Killer Love
by awalkerlifeforme
Summary: *Daryl Dixon Love Story* Rain had never had an easy life. With a home life that had quickly spiraled out of control Rain had learned to expect the unsuspected. What Rain would have never expected though was for the dead to rise from their graves, and for her to fall in love with the one person she would have never expected to.
1. Outbreak

"Fucking fantastic," I grunted as my foot twisted, caught up in the roots that were littering the only path of this god forsaken forest that wasn't covered with poison ivy. Stupid, I didn't even think that poison ivy grew in Georgia, nevertheless this close to metropolitan Atlanta. I'd been moving on a fast track since the outbreak had begun about 3 weeks ago.

I'd been sitting in my apartment trying to finish up my 20 page report on the construction of the ancient wonders of the world when the announcement had popped onto TV- rudely interrupting the riveting episode of Jerry Springer I'd had on previously- note the sarcasm. The White House logo had appeared on the screen, quickly capturing my attention, and just when I thought I would see the President I had been thoroughly surprised- it had been the Secretary of Defense. With no inclination of what the problem was within 15 seconds- short attention span, I know, what else can you expect from a college senior?- I went back to my essay and was almost finished on my conclusion when I heard the words that would forever change my life, "the dead have been reported to be returning to life and attacking the living, all we know at this time is that you should lock yourselves in your home or find shelter, avoid windows and doors, and avoid all those who have been scratched or bitten."

"Yea, and rainbows are exploding from my ass" I muttered. Despite my reluctance at believing the situation I felt that it was still better safe than sorry so I rose from my spot on the couch and threw the deadbolts on the door and the windows.

No less then 10 minutes later my final essay for my college career was completed. I pulled out my computer and went to pull up the internet when I noticed something strange; the internet wasn't coming up, nothing on my computer was. Dismissing it to a low battery, I ran to get my charger and saw that even the charger was showing no signs of functioning. Pulling out my phone I checked to see that there was no service, the same with the WiFi- there was none. The next thought that ran through my mind was that maybe the cell phone towers were out. But how would that explain the WiFi. Checking the lights, fans, and appliances I saw that they also weren't working. Running back into the living room I saw the multicolored bars on the television- a surefire sign that there were no signals going out anywhere; there were no channels that were broadcasting, not even the audio. As for the radio, there was only an emergency broadcast that was very difficult to interpret.

Having no idea what to do now- it wasn't really like I had any friends, I wasn't really much of a people person; I tended to scare them off with my ever so charming personality- I ran to the window to see the most gruesome scene that I'd ever encountered. Down on the streets, a floor below me were people that looked like they'd crawled out of a horror movie attacking civilians that were running for their lives away from the monsters. Just as I looked down I saw a small girl, no older than 10 screaming at the door for someone to let her in. Just as I was about to buzz her in, a younger woman- obviously one of the infected- popped up on the side of the girl and, to my horror, bit into the girls shoulder, tearing out a huge chunk of flesh. I swore to myself right then that I would never forget that girls scream. Braving myself to look out the window again I saw hundreds of the monsters eating civilians all over the ground, or chasing down screaming and crying families attempting to flee. I jumped back from the window when I saw the monsters banging on the doors of my building, evidently trying to get in.

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath before dashing away from the window and bounding over my old couch into my kitchen. Quickly taking all the perishable food and shoving them to the side I grabbed a few water bottles, a canteen, a bottle of iodine I'd always had for boil water alerts, canned foods, and a few Slim Jims- sorry I'm obsessed- and I threw them all in my industrial strength Army pack that I used for school. Sprinting back into my room I threw off my sweats and pulled on a pair of hiking shorts with an industrial strength belt, hiking boots with sharp spikes on the toes and heels, and a dark green tank top with a black hat. Turning over to my desk I pulled my long, straight, blonde hair into a ponytail and pulled it through my hat. Without thinking, I threw a few extra clothes into my pack, some for Winter, just in case, and I dashed back out of my room and tossed the pack onto my counter. Slamming to a sudden halt I heard the rampage that was going on outside my apartment- the moans and hissing of the undead, and the screams of their victims. The occasional bang would sound on my door- I assumed that they could smell me inside the apartment or maybe they had finished in the hallway and were looking for their next meal. Either way there was no way I was moving from my apartment for a while.

Running over to the second bedroom I smiled at the one thing I could thank my father for- my endless supply of weapons. Even though my father hadn't been an Army man or anything, he'd always had a strange fascination with weapons, one that he shared with me. Though I knew I would want to wait a while before venturing into the hallway, I still wanted to be prepared for a last minute departure if need be. On the table I picked up two pocket knives of mine, a Southern Pride one that I had stolen off a bully of mine in high school and one that was designed like a motorcycle; a present from my father. Rummaging lower in the drawers I found my Grandfathers huge knife, one that he used in World War II, which I took more because I'd always had an attachment to the old thing and the stories it held. I took a few of my guns and extra magazine clips as well, the Beretta 92, my HK, and Springfield, all well loved guns; as well as plenty extra ammo for them. I finally turned to the back wall where my prized possession hung- my old hand carved bow. The bow was probably about 50 years old made of solid oak with delicate flowers carved into the bow, it had been given to me when I was younger on a family vacation in Africa. I smiled when I grabbed it off the wall, along with the sheath of arrows. I decided to bring a few extra arrows with me just in case, as well as a small set of throwing knives. What can I say, single girl living in the city, gotta know how to protect ourselves.

Moving out of the room with my weapons strapped to me by their sheaths hanging off my waist and thighs, and slung over my shoulder, I retreated to the living room once more. It sounded like the carnage had almost come to an end outside, however I refused to move from my apartment knowing that even if I made it out to my car there was a good chance the roads would be blocked and I could be stuck if an attack came. With nothing else to do I picked up one of my books and read until I passed out on my couch from the sheer exhaustion of the day.

The nest few days followed similarly to this, I hid in my apartment by day watching the streets and then at night I would read by candlelight eating as little as possible to ration the small amount of food I had. On the 5th day when I finally stopped seeing the huge amounts of undead that I normally saw littering the streets, I made the decision that terrified me, I decided to attempt to make a break for the woods. Over the last few days I'd heard reports occasionally on the radio that apparently Atlanta was a safe zone, so that was plan, drive to the woods and keep to the woods, and make my way to Atlanta; hopefully a new home.

I sighed heavily as I attempted to unbolt my door as quietly as I could before pushing it open and stepping into the deserted hallway. The smell was the first thing that hit me- it was horrible, it smelled like rotting flesh, which I guess would probably make sense. With my eyes watering I turned the corner and had to hold back the cry that threatened to escape my throat. Down the entire hallway was the rotting corpses of the neighbors that I had grown to tolerate over the past three years; though I may not have liked all of them, no one deserved to die that way. I made my way queasily down the hallway and made it to right in front of the stairwell when I felt my heart drop as I saw a unnerving sight- my neighbor, Carly; though Carly had been way too bubbly for a sane person she had only been 22, my age. It was unfair for her to go that way when she had so much of her life ahead of her.

As I stepped over Carly's body saying a quick prayer- and that's saying something as I have never been a religious person before- I carefully pushed open the door. Luckily I made it down the stairs, out the lobby, and into my car without encountering any of the undead. I hit the engine to start my old Ford and the car quickly roared to life, and with that I was gone from my old town.

Although there were plenty of things I knew I would miss about the old world- hello, AC, we do live in Georgia after all- speed limits would not be one of them. I had never been one for the rules and the speed limit was always one of my least favorite rules. Boy if I could count how many times I'd gotten out of a speed ticket by batting my eyelashes, crying, and pulling down my shirts, well that doesn't really matter any more. Roaring down the road at almost 100 I only encountered a few undead, and with the speed I was traveling, they were no problem. For a day I drove on end and then, about 30 miles outside of Atlanta, I pulled off to the side of the road, unloaded my things, and said goodbye to my beloved car. Gathering my supplies, I headed into the woods where I quickly pulled out the map of Georgia I'd snatched in a gas station. I figured that it would take me about 2 weeks to get to Atlanta if I kept a reasonable pace with a few breaks a day to rest, eat, and sleep.

As I moved on that day I encountered none of the undead and by the end of the day I was more bored than I could ever remember being.

"Better get used to it asshole, it's gonna be like this for at least another 2 weeks," I couldn't help but think to myself.

With a sigh I decided to settle into a tree that had a decent looking branch for sleeping. I easily hauled myself up into the tree, a habit I'd had since I was a kid, and tied myself and my supplies into the tree. After a few hour of griping to myself about how the apocalypse couldn't have waited until after I'd earned my degree, I'd tired myself into a well deserved sleep.

The next morning I woke with a start, and after yanking myself out of the rope binding me to the tree, I found out why. Down below me was 5 of the undead clawing to get up at me. I took a few seconds to thank whatever God is out there that I was about 20 feet up and the undead couldn't reach me. After recovering from my near heart attack, I jumped up and grabbed my bow and arrows to take down the undead. Pulling an arrow out of my sheath, nocking it, and pulling back the arrow on the string I aimed for the first undead's head. With a long breath I released and grinned as the undead fell with a thud to the ground. Using the well paid off archery lessons I'd had as a kid, I easily took down the other 4 at the base of the tree before packing up my gear and deciding to move on toward Atlanta.

Bracing my knees for the impact, I jumped out of the tree; seeing as it was a short fall I knew that if I didn't make a stupid move I would make a safe landing. Grunting as my heavily booted foot hit the ground I smirked to myself, turned and began the walk toward Atlanta, however before I'd even took two steps I heard a low grunting noise from directly behind me. I turned as fast as I could and shrieked when I realized it was one of the undead- a middle aged man by the looks of it. Panicking I leaped backwards and grabbed for the small pocket knife that I had in a sheath, the one that I stored my two throwing knives in. After scrambling around to flick the knife open- cutting myself on the branches around me- I began to lash out at the approaching figure with no aim at all, and I hit it directly in the gut, spilling them onto the ground. I gagged at the horrible smell and stench, and in my moment of weakness and forgetting my stance the undead took the opportunity to throw its entire weight onto me knocking me onto the woodsy floor; and the rest of it's guts onto me. I yelled at the disgusting scene and began to thrash my knife at the undead, and to my surprise, nothing was stopping it, no matter where I stabbed. The heart, lungs, spine, side, stomach, or neck- nothing did anything to it. With its jaws almost around my neck I let out one last long scream and drove my knife into the top of its head. With that I felt the struggle on his end stop and he slumped forward on top of me. Out of breath and terrified I made the conclusion, to kill them you have to destroy the brain. Shaking and pulling myself up- all of my previous cocky attitude gone- I vomited up the small dinner I'd had the night before.

Couching, I got up the rest of the vomit and quickly peeled off the green tank top I was wearing in exchange for a blue one, throwing the green one into the trees. Shakily, I grabbed my things and began off in the direction of Atlanta once more.

The next 2 weeks went by in a similar fashion, every day I would sleep in a tree, wake up, check the area for the undead, eat a small meal, and get walking for Atlanta. Though now I was much more cautious, even the slower and smaller undead I took seriously. I also quickly learned that they were sensitive to noise and smell. Also, the only way to kill them was the brain, body shots would slow them down, but not enough.

Anyways, there's the boring, depressing, and gruesome story of how we got here, to me complaining about the roots in the path. I guess I'm so irritable because I can see the rooftops of Atlanta now and I know my safety is so close. I couldn't help but smile and think to myself "it's almost over."

Pushing the branches apart I finally looked over Highway 81 and saw, what looked to be a deserted and ruined version of Atlanta. What? But Atlanta was supposed to be a safe zone. From the looks of it though, Atlanta was deserted and had been for at least a few weeks. When I took a closer look at the once magnificent city I noticed something, it looked as though the city had been burned. The rooftops were charred and the windows looked to have been blown out on most of the buildings. After a few moments it hit me; Atlanta must have been bombed. The undead must have somehow gotten into the city and to prevent the disease from spreading, they'd bombed the city, ignoring the innocent lives they would lose in the process.

"What now," I mumbled softly to myself. I had no one, no place, no purpose. I sat staring at Atlanta for what must have been hours and for a while, started to think that a bullet might be a welcome sight. After turning the gun over in my hand a few times I thought back to the many times in school when people said that I would never amount to anything. "Oh yeah, I'll show you," I thought. No, I'm not dead for a reason, I thought to myself, there has to be a reason that I'm still here. With my new found confidence I stood up and faced Atlanta. I'll find food, shelter, and in the morning, I'll start a hunt for somewhere to live, a place to make a new life, a place where I can find better people then I had in my old one.

And with that I shouldered my pack and headed toward the ruined city, without knowing at all what awaited me there.

* * *

><p>Hi everyone! Author here, it's my first time ever writing a fan fiction and this is only my first day on Quotev! Anyways, I adore The Walking Dead, and a certain someone ;) But back to the point, this is the first time I've ever written anything so please be nice! I love feedback and criticism, as long as it's constructive. Oh and if you were at all wondering, I based Rain very loosely on myself, although I'm sure none of you care. Oh and one last note, I plan to follow the show storyline since it's easier to write on and this will, as far as I'm planning be a long story. How long? I don't know but if I enjoy it as much as I do now, it'll be quite a while. So anyways, please review! -Ashley<p> 


	2. Atlanta

The gravel crunched like leaves after a cold Fall as I made my way slowly and carefully into Atlanta. I noted that although there weren't many straggling undead, they were in huge packs scattered throughout the city. As I passed what appeared to be the main street of a business district I stopped dead in my tracks at a group of maybe 200 of the undead. As my breath hitched in my throat from fear, I retreated down the street and into a dark alley. In the past I would have been afraid of a homeless man or a mugger catching me in a dark alley by myself but now I was more afraid of one of the undead stumbling upon me with my back turned. Without any way to go but back now, I turned around and headed to the slightly more commercial part of downtown Atlanta.

Walking out of the alley, carefully into the daylight I noticed what was an absolutely huge indoor market. I smiled to myself and almost whooped at my find. Although I'd brought plenty of supplies with me to carry me through the journey to Atlanta, I was starving myself slowly to keep what was left of my dwindling supplies. Carefully, I loaded my bow with an arrow, best to keep to silent weapons as the undead gravitated toward noise, and took a step toward the door, swinging it open and stepping inside. At first it seemed that no one was inside of the market, until I heard the unforgiving sound of the undead. I whirled around to what appeared to have been an overweight cashier at the market stumbling toward me. Taking my time to nock the arrow and aim directly between the eyes- damn this motherfucker was slow- I breathed in a long breath and let lose the arrow when the monster stood about 4 feet away from me.

Taking my time to search the rest of the mini mart I discovered 3 other of the undead, all who seemed to have been shopping when the world went to shit. Relaxing now that the store had been cleared out I had only one thing on my mind, what do I want to do and what do I want to "buy"? Judging by the security and heavy doors in the place I assumed that if I barricaded the doors the undead wouldn't be able to get in here and I would be able to stop here for a while, rest myself from the long days of hiking in the brutal Georgia summer sun these past few weeks, and replenish my supplies, then was I was ready, leave.

I smirked as I made my way through the aisles happily grabbing whatever it was I felt the need to consume- and trust me, after 3 weeks of nearly starving yourself, your new found appetite is ferocious when there is plenty of food to go around. I ended up garbling down 2 apples, a lukewarm personal pizza, 3 flat sodas, a brownie (pretty stale might I add, but hey not complaining) and some pistachios. Not to mention the stack of Slim Jim's that I now had in the bottom, of my Army pack. While I sat in the middle of the store with my stomach slightly bloated, I decided to get up and see if I could find anything fun. Humming to myself, I made my way to the back to see a monstrous shelf of liquor as far as the eye can see. I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd let out a girlish shriek in that moment.

Now, don't get me wrong, I like to drink, again a trait from my father, but I wasn't a drunk. I drank plenty growing up but I always knew how to control myself and how to keep my liquor down. To my ultimate pleasure I found my poison, Tennessee Bourbon Whiskey. I let out a small whoop before popping off the cork and taking a long swig. I smiled contentedly as the fiery liquid burned down my throat.

With my new-old friend in hand, I made my way to the front of the store where I went on a quick run to gather more supplies for when I did decide to leave and I cleaned up the mess I had made of my dinner place, taking small swigs of the bottle the entire time. Just as I made it to the back of the store where I was sleeping I heard a small nudge of the door up front and made my way over to take care of the undead that were now trying to get in. However, just as I reached for my bow I heard the door slide open and more defined footsteps unlike the dragging footsteps of the undead. Heart leaping into my throat I began to think, what if these are living people? There was no way though, I hadn't seen anyone when I was out in the streets though. However, if they drove in by car and I was absorbed in my drink, I may not have been able to hear them.

"Oh shit," I managed to mutter before it was too late.

My thoughts were finally silenced when I heard an unmistakeable rough Southern accent mutter, "check the back." My first few thoughts were muffled. You wanted someone to come so you could have a life, someone or something worth living for, why run? Why are you so afraid of them? What if they're bad people? Suddenly, even in the slight haze of the alcohol, I knew it was time to leave the 2 men in the store without making introductions.

Running along the back wall as quietly as I could will my gear in tow, I attempted to sneak around the men. Almost shrieking as I turned the corner, I saw a young looking Asian man in a red hat. Unable to contain it, I let out a small pip of fear and that was it. The man turned to look at me and the last thing I saw before I ran in a dead bolt out of the aisle. I heard the indistinct shout of the man and knew that I had to hurry out of the building. I had no idea where the other man had gone, the one I'd heard earlier with the thick Southern accent. Without a second thought I bounded over a display in the middle of the store only to hear footsteps at the end of that aisle. Slipping in my alcohol induced haze I wheeled around without thinking and down another aisle. Just when I thought I was in the clear- I could see the door right in front of me- I felt a powerful set of arms lock their way around me. In my fight or flight mode, I quickly slammed my head back into my assailants head, and upon hearing his groan, the man released his grip on me. I stumbled up, ecstatic to be free of the man's grip, however my excitement was short lived when I felt a heavy object come down on the back of my head. From the concussion of the impact, I fell forward, my vision already blurry from drinking, blurred even more as I saw the figures of 2 men approaching me, one rubbing his forehead.

Right before I passed out however, as I do have the best way of saying things, I muttered, "God damn you hit hard," and with that I was out in the abyss of unconsciousness.

Daryl P.O.V.

"Well what the hell did you do that for short-round?!" I yelled, angry that the Chinese kid had fucked up and hit the guy with a damn metal baseball bat.

"I thought he was gonna kill you!" Glenn shouted back, clearly afraid of what he had done to the man who seemed to have only been fighting out of fear.

I turned the guy over wanting to see what damage the stupid kid had done to the him, and just as I flipped him over, the man's baseball cap fell off and with it came a long stream of blonde hair. Turning the person over, I saw a feminine face along with some feminine "features" I hadn't seen before. "Shit," I mumbled "you idiot, you knocked out a girl with that damn thing! You coulda killed her!"

"I didn't know it was a girl, I was just trying to help you out! I thought she was hurting you!"

"Pfft, yea right. So what do we do with her now?" I asked.

"Bring her back to camp?" Glenn suggested.

"What?!"

"Look Daryl, I almost killed the poor girl, she was just looking for food, or water, or supplies. Just like us. We can't just leave her here like this as walker bait," Glenn argued.

"Whatever, you can explain it to them assholes," I muttered back to him. "Go get the food."

As Glenn ran off to get what we had before the fiasco with his tail tucked between his legs, I looked at the girl. She was pretty, maybe 21 or 22, long blonde hair, brown eyes from what I'd seen before Glenn had hit her, an athletic but feminine build, and she was short. Probably only about 5'3. The other thing I noticed was a tattoo on her shoulder- of what I couldn't tell, and a simple piercing in her belly button where the shirt had ridden up in the struggle. Leaning down, I picked the girl up under her legs and shoulders and mumbled to Glenn, "let's go, get the car ready."

With that we made our way out of the market and to the campsite we had set up. Pray help the girl that Merle never sees her, Lord knows what he'd say or do to the poor thing.

A/N: That's 2 chapters today on my first day on FanFiction! I know no one's reading yet so I suppose this is for when I start getting readers. Anyways, in the next chapter we'll get to meet the whole gang, and who knows, maybe at the end we'll get to meet a certain Officer Friendly ;) Thanks for reading, and please leave a review! It'll really help!


	3. Meet and Greets

"Mother of God, was a damn metal bat really necessary?" I mumbled irritably as I began to climb my way back into consciousness. My dark and blurry vision finally returned to me after a few minutes of blinking, and without knowing where I was, I shot up immediately. Obviously too soon however as I bent over and nearly hurled from the insane dizziness that was surrounding me. Once the world came back into focus, I stood up, slowly this time, and gathered in my surroundings. From the looks of it I was on a bed in the back sleeping area of an RV, a small one at that. There was a small kitchen and dining area, the queen sized bed in the back of the RV where I was currently residing and the driving area in the front. I attempted to look out the window to see where I was without giving away the fact that I was up to anyone who may have been moving around outside of the RV but the only thing I could see was trees. Hmm... The woods were too dense for an RV like this so I was most likely in a quarry somewhere.

As much as I liked having the whole bed to myself, I had no idea what the people who owned this were like, hell one hit me on the head with a baseball bat. At that moment I knew that it was time for me to go. To my utter surprise, all of my stuff was laid out on the dining room table just a few feet from me. Alright, so maybe dangerous but not the brightest? Didn't matter to me, as quickly as I could, without rocking the RV, I pulled all of my gear onto me and headed to the door that led me to God knows who, or what.

As I peered out the small window on top of the door I saw that no one was out in the green area in front of the RV, however, there were plenty of tents and food tables and fire pits set up all around the area. Wow, it was like these people have a whole little community out here. Like there wasn't the end of the world going on right now. It must not just be the two men I realized, with all those supplies there had to be near 20 people here, so maybe they were friendly if there were families?

Although there did seem to be families around, I wasn't willing to stick around to see if they were friendly. Maybe if we'd met by an exchanging of words it might work, but they'd attacked me for no reason! So I took out the long knife I'd received from my grandfather and stepped out of the RV onto the grass. Looking back at the RV I realized that it was a Winnebago, my father had owned one for a few years when I was younger. Shaking myself out of the old memories, I turned to the woods preparing to head off, maybe to Jacksonville or something, however just before I broke the tree line I heard a low shout across the green, "she's out, get her before she gets away!"

"Shit!" I shrieked before tearing off as fast as I could hoping to break the woods where I know I could lose my pursuers. I knew for a fact I was faster, I was always one of the fastest people I knew, well that was until the man who had hit me with the baseball bat earlier managed to cut me off. Damn he's fast. Raising the knife, prepared for a fight with the man, I saw the fear rise to his eyes as he began to stammer.

"W-w-wait! Please, I'm so sorry for hitting you with the bat, I was just scared a-and I thought you were a guy with your hair tied up, not that you look like a guy! Please, just put the knife down, we don't want to hurt you, we brought you back here so you wouldn't be walker bait. Look, I'm Glenn. What's your name?"

A million questions went zooming through my head at that moment. This scrawny little thing got the best of me? God he's like my age, I wouldn't have thought that. And good lord he's fast, maybe he was a runner? What's a walker? Oh the undead, I like that name better, I think I'll use it. Wait a minute he asked me a question, oh my name! Just as I was about to respond, I realized that I had dropped the knife to my side and the fear had left Glenn's eyes. However there was now a large crowd around us looking like they were expecting something. Oh my name! I really need to pay more attention.

"Uh... It's Rain," I awkwardly answered Glenn and the rest of the crowd.

"Cool name," a little boy standing off to the side responded.

"Thanks," I muttered back to him. I'd never exactly been the best with kids. I'd never even planned to have kids of my own.

"Well! Excuse us for being so rude!," Glenn exclaimed, "let me introduce you to everyone. That's Shane in the police uniform, those 2 over there are Lori and Carl," Glenn motioned to the mother and son duo that were walking away from us. Now that the main commotion had died down everyone was moving on to do their chores as Glenn had explained. Apparently everyone had chores to do so everyone stayed busy and they could live reasonably well. "Anyways, the owner of the Winnebago you stayed in is Dale, that's him up top."

I looked up on the top of the roof of the Winnebago and there stood an older, friendly looking man. "Well hello there! You certainly caused quite the commotion. How are you feeling, that was a nasty wound there that I had to bandage up," Dale responded, glaring at Glenn at the end of his welcome.

I giggled slightly and yelled up, "I'm fine, thanks." I'd just noticed that my head had a wrap on it where I was hit, it must have been bleeding when I got back. "Nice to meet you," I called back as Glenn led me away from the RV.

Walking through the rest of the camp, which was as I suspected, in a quarry outside Atlanta, Glenn introduced me to everyone else in the camp. There was Andrea and Amy, 2 sisters that had come with Dale, Carol and Ed Peletier with their young daughter Sophia, then there was a Spanish family, Morales, his wife and their 2 young kids. There was also Jim, a man who I'd learned had lost his entire family, and Jacqui.

After finally making it through our entire tour of the living areas, cooking, and washing areas I turned to Glenn and asked, "who was the other man with you, the one that I head butted?"

Glenn shifted uncomfortably for a few seconds before muttering, "Daryl. He wasn't very happy that we brought you back here, he thought you were trying to attack us. He wanted to leave you. That's his and his brother's tent way out there, they tend to stay away as much as possible. We would tell them to buzz off, they're not exactly very nice, but they do supply fresh meat so we tolerate them."

"Well I want to tell him I'm sorry for the head butt, that I was just defending myself. What was their names again?"

"Daryl, Daryl and Merle Dixon. The quieter one is the one you're looking for, just ignore the other one."

"Uh thanks Glenn, you gonna wait over here?"

Glenn simply nodded and with that I turned around and made my way to the small, secluded part of camp. I heard people moving around behind the large tent but not wanting to intrude on their makeshift home I simply called out "hello?" Wow, real intelligent.

"Well well well, what pretty little thang do we have here?" a man that looked to be in his early 50's drawled out as he stepped into view.

"You must be Merle," I more stated than asked, figuring from the slight warning Glenn had given me. "Uh I just wanted to apologize to your brother, is he back there, can I see him?"

"Now what the hell would you wanna talk to Darlina for? Oh, I get it, you were the wild little thang that gave ma brother back there that nasty shiner, weren't you sugar?"

I merely rolled my eyes at Merle's obvious attempt to flirt with me, I'd met plenty of guys like him before, especially when I briefly worked as a bartender last year and he wasn't gonna scare me off just like that. "Look I just wanna talk to Daryl. It is Daryl right?"

"Merle! What the hell are you doin?!"

The first time that I saw Daryl, I saw no similarities at all between the 2 brothers however as I looked more I noticed the same body structure, and eye shape but other than that, there really were no similarities between the two. While Merle had dark brown eyes, Daryl had a pretty light blue, and while Merle was balding, Daryl had a head of short dirty blonde hair. It also appeared that there was a good age difference between the two, Daryl looked like he was in his late 30's and dare I say, very attractive in the dirty redneck way with strong muscular arms and a crossbow strapped to his back. Suddenly I felt naked without my weapons as his gaze scrutinized me, seeing as I was wearing a pair or beige shorts and a black tank top with my hair tied up.

"Daryl right? Look I just wanted to say that I was sorry for the market incident, I didn't mean to-"

"Look princess I don't care what the hell you have to say, I still say we should left your sorry ass there for attacking us. Now get out of our side of the camp!"

I stood there, shell shocked for a moment at Daryl's abrupt and rude word choice, and suddenly I felt my anger rising, "look asshole! I just came up here to apologize for head butting you the other day! You scared me and it was the first thing I thought to do! So sorry for defending myself you egotistical prick!"

I heard a small snicker come from Merle's direction as I whirred on my heels to head back to the main part of camp when I heard the call of the older Dixon brother, "'Ey Girly, what's your name?"

Whipping around with what I'm sure was a bright red face, I gritted out, "Rain." I saw the confused look on Daryl's face and fought the urge to sigh. It was the usual look I got when I told people my name. Sure having an odd name was cool, but it did get old after a while. Turning I noticed that the urge to say something stupid was bubbling up in Merle's throat so I saved everyone the time, "yes, like the weather." God, I hate having to say that.

With a short bark of laughter, Merle shouted back "feel free to come around any time Sugar Tits!" I rolled my eyes as I stomped away from their camp toward the main camp and where Glenn had left me.

"So, I take it that went well?" Glenn asked with a smug face.

"Oh shut up," I grumbled but still managed to laugh slightly at the goofy look Glenn had on his face. OK Daryl Dixon, if you wanna play it like an asshole, I can play it like a bitch right back.

Let's play. 

A/N: OK, so I know I said that we might be meeting our favorite Sheriff this chapter but I felt like it was more important to introduce Daryl and set up their dynamic first. Anyways, the next chapter will be the journey to Atlanta where we find and lose a few survivors. Well I hope you liked the chapter and there will be a new one posted soon! As always, reviews are welcome and encouraged!


	4. Return to Atlanta

"What's everyone gathered around for Glenn?" I asked the young Asian, seeing all of the members of camp gather around the main fire pit, even the Dixon brothers, the younger briefly glaring at me before turning his angry gaze on the ground.

"We're having a meeting about potentially going to Atlanta again to make a run for some supplies. That's what we were doing, Daryl and I, when we found you. We were getting supplies that we were running out of. When I accidentally injured you, you became the priority so we had to cut our trip short and bring you back here. Believe it or not you used up a lot of our medical supplies. This time we'll probably send out more people."

"Oh... I'm sorry that it was me who cut your trip short," I answered feeling bad that I had caused do much trouble in the small camp that seemed to be having problems keeping supplies properly stocked. I was also amazed that they would use their medical supplies on someone they hadn't even known. I could have killed them when I woke up. Just as I was deep in thought, I thought his name was Shane, stepped forward and began to speak about the upcoming journey.

"All right, as you know we had to cut the last trip short because of certain circumstances," I immediately felt bad although when Shane looked at me he gave me a reassuring smile that brought my spirits back up. "It doesn't matter though, we're going to go back out, this time farther into Atlanta. And this time, we'll have more people and more firepower." I could see how Shane had been a police officer before, he had that authoritarian vibe to him. "Are there any volunteers?" he asked, seeming to know that no one would be too quick to volunteer.

After a few minutes of awkward silence I decided to be brave, "I'll go," I said quickly before I could change my mind.

"No, you're new here, we shouldn't make you-" Shane started.

"No Shane, I'm the reason that your people didn't get to retrieve all of their supplies so it's only fair that I go. One less person of yours to risk their life, after all, you had 2 risk their lives for me."

Shane sighed and ran his hands through his hair before asking, "what weapons can you handle?"

I smirked and explained that I would be proficient in almost anything he gave me but I was best with knives and guns. Shane seemed happy enough with my skills and turned to the rest of the group waiting for more volunteers.

"I'll go too," Glenn stepped forward past a tall black man whose name I didn't know. "I know the streets better than anyone else, count me in."

Glenn came and stood by me and just a second later the black man Glenn had pushed by volunteered himself as well.

"Thanks T," Shane patted the man on the back as he walked past and came to a halt next to me. "Hey, I'm T-Dog." I smiled up at T-Dog, and replied, "Hey T, I'm Rain." T-Dog merely smiled and said "cool name, I like it."

After the 3 of us had volunteered to go, Jacqui- who apparently knew all the underground systems- and Morales stepped forward, as did Andrea; though the only reason I really thought Andrea was going was because she wanted to be "one of the guys." Or at least that's the vibe I got from her. Just as I thought we were ready to leave I heard a familiar, cocky, Southern accent, "hey now, y'all gonna need some muscle, I think Ole Merle might go just to show y'all how it's done out there!"

I sighed at the thought of being stuck with Merle, but I realized that on the positive side it would be useful to have one more person that knew how to defend themselves and others.

"Alright, that settles it, the 7 of you will go. Everyone else will stay and help here at camp. Everyone get your stuff and be ready to head out in 5," called Shane.

Unlike the others I already had all of my stuff with me so I just decided to go sit by the truck. I'd only been at the truck for about a minute looking at the ground when I saw a pair of worn work boots; I was about to give Merle's sexist ass a piece of my mind when I looked up, but I was surprised to see that it was actually Daryl.

The only thing I could think to say was "uh..." Oh yes, very intelligent Rain.

"Why'd you volunteer to go out there?" Daryl asked.

"Um, it was my fault your last trip got cut short so I figured why not make up for it and go on this trip?"

Daryl just humphed and looked back at me. "We uh, don't have any more tents for you to stay in when y'all get back so if ya want, I'm goin huntin, I'll probably be gone for a few days, I usually am on huntin trips. Anyways, you can use mine while I'm gone, I'll make sure to tell Merle to leave ya alone if ya want. And if he gets outta hand, one foot to the nuts always helps."

I couldn't help but to smile and laugh a bit at the sight. "Wow, thanks Daryl. I'm grateful, I really am, but why? I mean why offer me your tent?"

"I still don't really like ya but if we gotta live around each other I figured be civil. Plus the grounds pretty hard and sucks to sleep on so for a few days it'll be fine if ya wanna stay. Maybe try to find a tent while you're out. Just keep your damn hands outta my shit while you're in there."

"So Shane asked you to huh? Doesn't matter, I think I'll take you up on that. Anything you want while we're out on the run?"

"Nah," Daryl quickly replied and stormed off, grabbing Merle, who was marching over at the moment and talking to him quietly in the corner. I figured I was right about Shane asking him to judging by the small smirk on his face when I had mentioned it. Oh well, he still could have said no so I guess that was sweet of him. Maybe if I can find some arrows or cleaning fluids or a sharpening stone I'll get it for him.

"What are you all smiley for?" T-Dog asked walking up to me. "Is it something to do with whatever you just said to Daryl, because usually he storms away in a huff or yellin, he looked just fine there."

"Oh, he offered me his tent while he was on a hunting trip."

"What?! He's never done anything like that for anyone. Must like the way you stood up first, even though you really didn't owe us anything."

I couldn't help the small blush that rose to my face, "oh well, it was uh sweet of him to do I guess. I think Shane asked him to do it though."

"Mhm, sure thing sweetheart," T-Dog replied. I shoved T playfully, and in the next minute everyone had shown up and we were off. Just as we were going down to the edge of the road, I looked and saw Daryl disappearing into the woods for his hunt. Silently, I wished him, and ourselves, luck.

In about 5 minutes we were at the edge of Atlanta. We pulled the truck off on the edge of the road, grabbed our gear, and made our way into the city as quietly as possible.

"Hey y'all, I hate to jinx it, but where are all the walkers?" Morales asked. An odd question but he was right. The cities were the most populated with walkers yet we didn't see any of them. I wondered if perhaps something or someone might have been drawing them off.

Moving around the streets of downtown Atlanta we still had yet to see or hear any walkers and our group was near silent until a gunshot sounded dangerously close to where we were standing. When the gunshot had gone off both Andrea and Jacqui had let out ear piercing shrieks, and to our horror we knew that the 2 had alerted the walkers to our position. Not to say they were the only ones that had been startled by the gunshot, every one of us had jumped, even Merle. Shakily we ran out onto the main street looking for a building we could hole ourselves into and once again, to our horror, the street was filled with walkers who had noticed our presence and were now weakly limping after us. There would be no way to outrun this pack too, there must have been well over 200.

"Back, go back!" Morales shouted at the top of his lungs, no use being quiet anymore. Not needing any more persuasion we all took off down the road and practically barreled into a store that had 2 sets of glass doors and a bar cage that the walkers would have to get through to even make it into the shop. Morales and T-Dog went to locking the gates while the rest of us cleared the store to check that it was empty, which thankfully, it was.

"So what now?" Andrea asked. The walkers were surrounding the door, and it was clear that there was no way we were getting out anytime soon.

"Check the roof maybe?" I suggested, earning odd looks from the group. "Look, we could maybe see if this roof connects to another one or if nothing else, who the hell fired that shot."

"That's not a bad idea actually," Jacqui piped in as we all went to the staircase and headed toward the roof. It didn't take long for us to spot the problem. It was a man on horseback that was clearly being cornered by the walkers and getting closed in on the other side by a tank. "Should we go help him?" Jacqui asked.

"Why? All that asshole did was get us stuck here, let him get bit," Merle grumbled. "He's gonna be walker chow in a minute anyways."

The man had gotten pulled down by the walkers, and the horse was now being feasted on as shots were ringing in the air. Huh, so he's still alive. Just then I heard the metallic bang of a door come from the underside of the tank. That was when I remembered, tanks have emergency hatches on the bottom! He had holed himself inside the tank. "Well goddamn... Listen everyone! Tanks have a small hole that people could climb in and out of on their undersides in case of emergencies. That man's still alive! He's holed up inside the tank probably trying to wait the feast out."

"Here, maybe I can get him on the radio, lemme try," after a few static-y hisses from the radio Glenn thought that he had connected to the radio station that the tank was on. "Hey you. Dumb ass. Yeah, you in the tank. You cozy in there?"

I couldn't help but giggle as I heard Glenn and the man communicate about how to get him to safety. At this point what happened with the man was no longer my problem, as far as I was concerned I'd done my part. So instead of trying to put my two cents in where it didn't belong I decided to take a nap and tune out whatever argument was going on with Glenn and everyone else. Hey, maybe I'll get a tan, I thought bitterly.

The next thing I knew there were voices yelling, all indistinct, most that I knew, however one was foreign to me. A Southern voice belonging to a male, that was all I could tell. "What the hell people?" I moaned as I got up stretching however, I soon snapped into it as I saw the scene in front of me. The man from the tank was bent over Merle, who was now on the ground attached to a pole by handcuffs. What the fuck? I fall asleep for 5 minutes and this shit happens.

"Do you hear me, you filthy pig?! You're not Atlanta P.D." Merle yelled from his spot.

"What the hell happened?" I asked confused over the whole situation.

"Dixon here got a little friendly and I had to ask him to calm down, we see how well that went," the man from the tank, who I now saw wore a sheriffs outfit answered.

"And you are?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Rick," the man answered.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rain, yes like the weather, no I'm not a flower power baby." Rick laughed at my awful attempt at humor, and I couldn't help but smile.

As the men were attempting to find a radio signal, I looked over the street, "damn, it's flooded with those things."

"Ain't that right, sugar tits? Hey, honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? - Gonna die anyway," Merle attempted.

I rolled my eyes and bit out a "go fuck yourself."

Not able to stand being around these people any longer, I'd always had an issue with large crowds, I moved into a secluded section of the store and sat with my eyes closed, for how long I sat there, I had no idea. The next thing I knew there were shouts coming from all directions and someone- Rick as it turned out- was shaking me from my daydream. "C'mon, we've got the truck loaded, Glenn is drawing them off, we gotta go now!" Man, I needed to stop spacing out today and pay attention, I was gonna get killed soon if I kept doing that. And just like that we raced into the truck, and Morales slammed on the gas to get us the hell out of Atlanta.

Just a few blocks, at the border of Atlanta, I heard the sound of a car alarm. "What the-"

"WOO HOO!"

With the scream echoing behind, Glenn went racing by in a red Challenger that he must have stolen. And the car alarm for it must have been the distraction. I smiled to myself at the obvious joy Glenn had from his few minute drive in the gorgeous car.

"Hey you guys, where's Merle?" I asked peering into the back of the truck and not spotting the redneck.

"I dropped the damn key down the drain, I couldn't cut him free so I just left, like a coward. Bolted the door though, no geeks are getting out there to him," T-Dog responded with his head hung low.

"Oh shit," was all I could say. Anyone would be upset about that happening to a sibling but Daryl, we all knew he had anger issues and didn't know how it would pan out when we told him. Needless to say, the rest of the car ride was dead silent.

Just as we pulled into the camp, our small group of survivors surrounded us and we all jumped out of the truck to be reunited with loved ones. Not having anyone myself, I turned back to Rick and smiled, "coming Officer Friendly?" Rick smiled and jumped down from the truck. Just as he did, I noticed the shocked looks on Lori's, Carl's, and Shane's faces. I was about to make introductions when Carl bounded forward.

"DAD!" Carl screeched as he went barreling into Rick's arms. I vaguely remembered the story I'd been told by Glenn about Lori losing her husband, and Shane coming to save her and Carl from their homes. Something about getting them to safety now that the man of their house was no longer around. Well I'll be damned, they all found each other. The family of 3 were hugging and laughing, however, Rick broke apart the reunion to say hello to his best friend and work partner.

"Thanks for keeping them safe." Shane smiled at Rick but something in his smile seemed off to me. I wondered if maybe Shane wasn't as happy to see Rick as he let on. After all, I had seen some intimate gazes exchanged between Lori and Shane. Was Shane jealous of Rick?

For a while afterward everyone mulled around the campsite and I paired myself off with Dale who had been fixing the Winnebago. Apparently there was something wrong with the radiator hose. I looked into the RV hood and saw that there wasn't really even a hose anymore, it was almost all duct tape. "Jesus Dale, I think it's about time you gave this bad boy up for his retirement." I smiled up at Dale who gave me a grateful smile in return.

"Soon Rain, but as of now, we really do need this old man to transport the stuff around, especially if we need to pack up and move fast."

I nodded my agreement and before long heard the voices of Shane asking Ed to put out the fire. I'd noticed that people had to be extremely careful what they said around Ed, and judging from the way he looked at his wife and daughter, I assumed that he was, most likely, an abusive husband. The thought made my blood boil, but I knew if I confronted Carol she would deny it and I could possibly get her in a load of trouble with Ed. Snapping me out of my thoughts Dale asked the one question that no one had so far dared ask.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." I remembered quickly that they had left Merle up on the rooftop in Atlanta. Everyone sighed knowing that that would not be an easy conversation to have, especially not with Daryl, who wasn't a very rash thinker. There really wasn't a good way to say it with Daryl, I thought the best way would be to do it like a band aid. Tell him and let him process it on his own, then ask questions.

"I'll tell him," Rick had stepped in to make himself the bad guy.

"I dropped the key," T-Dog attempted to argue.

"It's on me. I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn attempted to mediate but everyone could see that it wasn't going to work.

"I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy," Rick argued back.

Ugh, I hate this, couldn't we have just hit Merle with a pipe, or I don't know a bat and drag him back to camp? Worked pretty well last time. With no real solution, the discussion was over fast and we all retreated back to our work. I had gone back with Dale to work on stripping the Challenger, much to Glenn's disappointment. We were about halfway through when an ear piercing shriek rang out through camp. "Near the woods, go!" I shouted to everyone standing around.

Besides Lori and Carol with the kids, I was the first one to the scene, gun in hand. It turned out it was a walker gnawing on deer meat with 2 arrows sticking out of the side of the deer carcass, and that could only mean one thing. While everyone was arguing about how the walker had come up this far I was focused on the tall figure coming out of the shadows of the woods.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl yelled while kicking the deer in the side.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping," Dale attempted, always trying to be the bringer of peace.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl asked, obviously hopeful.

"I would not risk that," Dale replied, obviously he would rather be safe than sorry, although with my stomach growling the way it was I was about ready to eat anything. I had realized now that I hadn't eaten anything since I'd been at the market the other day. Thankfully that had been a huge meal and the alcohol had subdued the hunger until now.

"That's a damn shame," Daryl sighed, "I got some squirrel. About a dozen or so."

"That'll have to do," Dale sighed, upset about the venison but obviously happy that Daryl had had such a successful trip with the smaller animals.

"Oh God," Andrea groaned at the sight of the walker now with its attention on us. C'mon girly, gonna have to get used to that now in this world, I thought.

" Come on, people. What the hell? It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing? Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up," Daryl shouted to the empty tent while shooting the walker in the head with his crossbow.

Ah shit, here come the fireworks. It's days like these that made me wish there were still cameras and video recorders. What I wouldn't give to be able to record what's about to happen.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit, I need to talk to you, " Shane called out to Daryl.

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta."

"He dead?" Daryl asked, worry evident in his eyes.

"We're not sure," Shane responded looking to Daryl with one of the most guilty looks I'd ever seen. In fact almost everyone had that look.

"He either is or he ain't!"

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick finally decided to step in for his best friend and explain the situation.

"Who are you?" Daryl sneered at Rick seeming to finally notice the new addition to the group.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

It was at that moment that I saw the gears turning in Daryl's head, that moment that I saw the pieces fall into place, and that moment when I knew something bad was coming. It was also in that moment that I saw Daryl's hand slip down to the hilt of his knife that I knew, shit was about to hit the fan.

A/N: Hey there everyone, once again, the author. I just wanted to apologize first of all for the length of this chapter and second of all if it seemed choppy. I just really wanted to get this part of the story out of the way. Anyways, next chapter, the rescue gets under way! Also, this chapter is 12 pages, that's insane! -Ashley


	5. Rescue

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl yelled, obviously angry that the group had left Merle in Atlanta, and that he was the only one who had been left.

"Yeah," Rick answered, with nothing else to say. In the moment, Rick at least had the decency to look ashamed of what they had done. With almost no warning, Daryl lunged forward, grunting, at Rick with his knife now unsheathed and in hand.

"Daryl no, stop!" I shouted in an attempt to stop the fight.

"Watch the knife!" T-Dog yelled as Daryl lunged at Rick with the knife, coming dangerously close to hitting him. Just as Rick was about to be cut by Daryl's knife, Shane caught him around the throat and wrestled him to the ground.

"Okay. Okay," Shane muttered to himself.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl yelled to Shane.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

"Choke hold's illegal," Daryl gasped, running out of air.

"You can file a complaint," Shane muttered, struggling to keep Daryl from jumping up again.

"Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day. I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked, walking up to Daryl with his gun aimed at him.

"Hmm?" Shane asked, his grip still tight on Daryl.

"Mmm, yeah," Daryl mumbled, stumbling out of the choke hold as soon as Shane released his grip.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others," Rick calmly stated as Daryl stumbled back a few steps.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it," T-Dog stepped in, admitting what he had done.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl snapped.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him- with a padlock. It's gotta count for something," T-Dog attempted to reassure Daryl.

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so I can go get him," Daryl shouted.

Lori quickly stepped in, "he'll show you."

"Isn't that right? I'm going back," Rick answered. He seemed to feel that he had a duty to retrieve Merle, as though the entire situation had been his fault.

"So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?" Shane asked, obviously irritated with the entire situation. I couldn't blame him, I thought this whole thing was getting old too.

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody. Not you, Shane; Lori least of all."

"Tell her that," Shane mumbled.

"She knows," Rick answered.

"Well, look, I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked. He had a good point, but Merle was a human being too. No one deserved to die like that.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully," Daryl butted in.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant."

"Merle Dixon The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst," Glenn attempted.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being," Rick argued back. It must have been in his nature, always be the diplomat.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan? Oh, come on," Lori questioned. It was a good point, it would most likely take more than 2 people to get this job done.

"You know the way. You've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along, I know she would too," Rick said motioning to Lori, and turning to Glenn. I saw the color leave Glenn's face, but I knew that he would end up agreeing. That was just who Glenn was.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane huffed, clearly not happy with the way things were panning out.

"Four," T-Dog finally piped in.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl growled, not happy that the man who dropped the key to his brother's freedom down the drain.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?" Daryl asked.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language," T-Dog bit out.

"That's four," Rick thought aloud.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp," Shane attempted to argue. It was a good argument but I knew that Rick wouldn't budge.

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns," Rick answered.

"Right, the guns," Glenn piped in. Wait, what were they talking about, guns?

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked, now clearly interested.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up," Rick explained.

"Ammo?" Shane asked.

"700 rounds, assorted," Rick answered, hoping this would be the selling point.

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori asked, clearly devastated that Rick had just gotten back and was now leaving again.

"Dad, I don't want you to go," Carl cried. As much as I thought the rescue was a good idea, it broke my heart that Carl had just gotten his father back and now he was leaving again, with Carl not knowing if he would come back or not.

"To hell with the guns," Lori snapped, angry with the entire situation, "Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me, make me understand."

Alright, now this had gotten to the point where it was stupid. Sighing, I turned away from the group and headed to the truck, where Daryl was currently fuming. "Hey, Daryl? Stupid question but uh, are you ok?" I asked, knowing what the answer would be. I was met with a red faced Daryl as he whipped around to face me.

"Get the hell away from me! Stupid bitch!" Daryl yelled in my face.

Stunned into silence, I sat there for a moment, a stupefied look on my face. However, my surprise quickly turned to anger when I realized what exactly he had just said to me. "What the fuck, Daryl?! I just came out here to see if you were OK, something no one else bothered to do! Maybe if you took your head outta your ass for one minute you would see that some people around here actually care about you! Not everyone here is out to get you, you asshole!"

Instead of immediately retaliating like I had expected Daryl to, he sat there for a moment, stunned like I had been. "Whatever girl, just get the hell away from me."

"You know, now I know why everyone is so uncomfortable around you and your brother. You guys are stupid, ignorant, pieces of shit!" I yelled, before wheeling around and marching away from the truck. OK, maybe not my most mature argument, but still, he didn't have to be such a dick. I was just trying to be nice. As I marched toward Rick, I heard Daryl shout from the truck.

"Come on, let's go!" With a few more honks from the truck, the group had packed up and were now ready to head to Atlanta. I walked over to Rick, who was quickly walking past me.

Hey Rick!" I called to him. "Would you mind if I came to Atlanta with you guys? I'd like to come help to get Merle back."

Rick seemed to mull over his thoughts for a few seconds before he decided, "look, as much as I've seen that you can handle yourself, that's exactly why I want you to stay here. Besides Morales and Shane, we really don't have anyone staying that's proficient with weapons. I really need you to stay here and watch over everyone in camp. Can you do that?"

As much as I didn't want to stay, I sighed and gave Rick a small smile. "Sure thing."

Rick smiled and patted me on the shoulder before turning away and hopping into the truck, driving down the road and disappearing over the road. I frowned slightly and turned around only to come face to face with- Amy?- I thought it was.

"Uh, hey. Amy right?"

"Yea! Listen Rain, the women were just going to do some laundry and we were wondering if you might wanna come and join us? It'll be more exciting than sitting here all day waiting for them to come back."

As much as I hated doing anything like cooking or cleaning- the typical women work- I decided that I would have to work and pull my weight around here, and if that meant helping with laundry, I guessed I would have to. "Yea, sure. I mean, what the hell? Why not?"

"Awesome! Come on, we're setting up right down there by the water."

Amy and I walked over to the other women doing the laundry and we all picked up a small pile of the clothes and went to washing. Not even half a minute into washing, the questions started flying. Where are you from? How old are you? Did you live on your own before this? What did you do? What about your family?

"Well," I awkwardly started, "I'm from South Florida but I've lived in South Georgia for most of my life. I'm 22, I just finished college. Well I would've but the damn apocalypse couldn't have waited a few days. I did live on my own, a little apartment, not much to it, but it was mine. I worked in a local gun store for a few months but my hours were limited. And as for my family... I don't really like to go there. For the past few years we haven't had a very good relationship."

"That's OK sweetie. That's quite an impressive resume you have there though, and with your skills with the bow? You sure are something, quite a catch for any man." Lori smiled at me. I couldn't help but to blush and smile back while mumbling a thanks. With the awkward introductions out of the way, the conversation settled into something much easier.

We'd been washing for a few minutes and we were now all talking about what we missed most from before.

"I do miss my Maytag," Lori commented. I didn't blame her, it took a lot less time than hand washing everything.

"I miss my Benz, my Sat Nav." Carol commented after Lori.

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey," Jacqui smiled at the memories. I couldn't help but feel my mouth water at the thought of fresh coffee.

"My computer And texting," Amy answered. What a teenage answer, I thought, laughing slightly.

"What do you miss, Rain?" Lori asked.

Hmm... I had to think about that one. What did I miss? "Probably my music. If it had paid more I would've been a music major in college," I finally answered. The women smiled and Amy chirped in, "yea I miss music too, it was a great way to escape."

"That it was," I responded, nodding my head.

"I miss my vibrator," Andrea chimed in. Although I wasn't Andrea's biggest fan, that was hilarious. Immediately all of the women were giggling at Andrea's confession.

"Oh my God!" Amy nudged her older sister.

"Me too," Carol quietly added. And that was when we couldn't take it any more, the 6 of us exploded with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Ed, Carol's husband, called as he walked up.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed," Andrea smiled.

"Yeah," Amy agreed.

"Problem, Ed?" Lori asked.

"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club."

"Ed, tell you what. You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here," Andrea growled as she threw a sopping wet shirt at Ed.

"Oh! Ain't my job, missy," Ed called after throwing the shirt back at Andrea.

"Andrea, don't," Amy attempted to mediate.

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch."

"Tell you what. Come on. Let's go!" Ed called to Carol.

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed," I spat out. The man spelled bad news and I had a short tolerance for people like Ed. Bad people that had no right being anyone- especially someone as sweet as Carol.

"And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me."

"Carol," I whispered, pleading that she would stay. I was afraid what would happen if she went with Ed.

"Andrea, Rain, please. It doesn't matter."

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, all right? Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later."

"How dare you, fucking hick!" I hissed.

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them," Jacqui bravely stepped in.

"Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on." Ed laughed the entire time, and that was where I hit my breaking point. No man would dare lay a hand on a woman while I was around.

"No no. Carol, you don't have-" I started trying to talk over Carol's murmuring.

"You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" Ed shouted coming toward Carol. "You think you can," Ed cut himself off slapping Carol across the face.

"You fucker!" I shrieked, launching myself at Ed. I easily landed the first few hits on Ed, leaving what I knew would be some nasty scars and bruises, however before I could really get to him, Ed swung all of his weight into a hard hit on the left side of my face. The hit immediately blurred my vision and disoriented me- hey, Ed was a big guy- as I fell to the ground unable to stand any longer. Not even a second later, Ed fell onto me hitting me in the chest and face. Unfortunately for me, I was fighting a losing battle. There was no way I could get Ed off me. In my haze I heard the other girls shouting, "get off her! Come here! Come here! Get off her! Get off her! Get off her!" Just as I was about to black out I felt a huge pressure come off of me, and through half lidded eyes I saw Shane beating the living hell out of Ed.

"Ed?" Carol called, seemingly worried.

"It's okay," Amy consoled Carol.

"No! It's okay. No!" Carol began to shriek attempting to stop Shane.

"Shane, stop! Just stop!" Amy called.

"Stop it! Stop!" Carol called again.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" Shane screamed shaking Ed.

"Yes," Ed barely managed to get out.

"I'll beat you to death, Ed," Shane said before throwing him down and stalking off.

"Ed! Oh God! No. God! Ed, I'm sorry. Oh my God. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ed. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ed," Carol sat over her unconscious husband apologizing for what had just happened.

Just as I felt like I could hang in no longer, Shane came over me and picked me up. "Hang in there Rain, we'll get you up to the main camp and get you some medical help. Just hang in there for a few more minutes." I nodded my head but a mere second later, the world went black around me and I remembered no more.

A/N: Hi again everyone! Just wanted to let you know that this story is now up on as well. This was a huge chapter so I wanted to ask, how do you guys feel about these chapters? Are they too long? I like long chapters but I'm not sure about everyone else. Anyways next chapter is, as we know is Vatos. I'll most likely just focus on Jim, Rain's recovery, and the attack at the end of the episode. Anyways, as always reviews are welcome!


	6. Graves and Attacks

I groaned as I rolled over and a searing pain shot up my side, and another through my head. It took me a minute but all of my memories eventually came flooding back to me. Ed coming and yelling at Carol, me yelling at him and hitting him, him beating me, Shane beating him, and Shane carrying me off somewhere. I must have been back to the Winnebago I realized looking around. Really? I thought. This was the second time in 2 days that I'd woken up in the Winnebago after being injured. I moaned slightly as I sat up only to see Dale come over to the edge of the bed.

"How're you doing sweetheart? That was quite a long list of injuries you had when Shane brought you to me. I'm surprised that Ed didn't do more of a job to you. Feeling OK? I'm sure that you're pretty sore."

"I feel like I got hit by a God damn semi truck."

Dale laughed heartily before handing me a tray with what looked like mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese on it. "Here you go, I don't know when the last time you ate was but I know it wasn't while you were with us. You must be starving."

"I am, thanks," I said before practically inhaling the food.

"Hey, you should be proud of yourself, you did quite the number on Ed. Well, you started it, and the Shane nearly killed him."

That's right, Shane had seen the whole thing and had beat Ed almost to death. Good. The ass deserved it. "You know," Dale started, snapping me out of my thoughts, "we might need to put you in bubble wrap at the rate you've been injuring yourself."

"Haha, very funny. But it might not be actually a bad idea."

"Here, take a seat. Let's get those bandages looked at." Dale re wrapped my head wrap, and one that was on my left arm. I had no idea why I had that one. "There we go, all done. You can go take a look at yourself, I need to get back on watch."

"OK, thanks Dale," I replied, smiling at the old man. Dale smiled back at me and walked out of the RV. Frowning, I decided I should take a look at the damage Ed did. Walking over to the large mirror in the vanity area, I saw the extent of the damage. There were bruises all along my collarbone- those I had been able to see- and I had 2 dark black eyes. My eyes widened with surprise when I saw how awful they looked. They looked shallow and like they had sunken into the back of my skull. Oh well, I would just have to wait them out. Besides those, I had a few lighter bruises on my cheeks and a busted lip. "God damn it. If Shane didn't, I'll fucking kill him. Carol can get over it," I muttered to myself.

Just then I heard a commotion going on outside; limping out of the Winnebago, I saw that it was most of the remaining group surrounding Jim up on a hill a bit from camp. I could just barely make out what they were saying.

"Hey, Jim. Jim, why don't you hold up, all right? Just give me a second here, please," Shane attempted to get Jim to stop, digging graves? What the hell was Jim doing? Limping, I headed over to the area that they were all gathered around.

"What do you want?" Jim snapped at Shane.

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all, Dale says you've been out here for hours."

"So?

"So why are you digging? Are you heading to China, Jim?"

"What does it matter? I'm not hurting anyone."

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's 100 degrees out today. You can't keep this up."

"Sure I can. Watch me."

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter," Lori butted in, attempting to get to the point.

"They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?" Jim snapped at all of us.

"We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe," Shane suggested. "I'll tell you what maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?"

"Or what?" Jim growled, looking suddenly very defensive.

"There is no or what. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you."

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you? Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it. See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you," Jim said. I could tell now that Jim had struck a chord and Shane's patience with him was wearing thin.

"That was different, Jim. You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife," Shane attempted to stay diplomatic.

"That is their marriage. You are not judge and jury. Who voted you king boss, huh?"

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, all right? Just give me the shovel, okay?

"No no no," Jim responded, now looking very unstable.

Just give me the- Jim!" Shane shouted as Jim attempted to hit Shane with the shovel and run off, however Shane was faster. Very much in the same way he had caught Daryl earlier, Shane caught Jim in his arms and pulled him to the ground. "Okay, shh shh," Shane shushed Jim in attempt to calm him down.

"You got no right!"

"Stop. Shh."

"You got no right!" Jim repeated.

"Jim, just stop it. Hey hey hey hey."

"Don't!"

"Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?"

"That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family," Jim explained to everyone as Shane released his grip on Jim.

Everyone had shock plainly written across their face and with the shock, no one could do anything. "Someone go get him some water!" I shouted. That seemed to snap everyone back into it as Dale went behind the RV and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Jim, take some water?" I asked him.

"All right. Yeah? All right," Jim responded panting.

"Here you go, bud," Shane handed Jim the water.

"Pour some on my head? Yeah."

"Cooling you down, huh? Yeah."

"How long you gonna keep me like this?" Jim asked. He was tied down by the RV in the shade. Shane had tied him up just to keep him and everyone else safe until we knew that Jim was once more stable.

"Until I don't think that you're a danger to yourself or others," Shane responded.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and your little girl," Jim turned to look at Carol and Lori.

"You had sunstroke. Nobody's blaming you," Lori smiled at him.

"You're not scared now, are you?" Jim asked Carl.

"No sir." Carl responded politely.

"Your mama's right. Sun just cooked my head is all."

"Jim, do you know why you were digging? Can you say?

"I had a reason. Don't remember. Something I dreamt last night. Your dad was in it," Jim responded, looking at Carl. "You were too. You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest. You worried about your dad?" Jim asked Carl, seeing the worried look on the young boys face.

"They're not back yet." Carl answered.

"We don't need to talk about that. Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all. That man, he is tough as nails. I don't know him well but I could see it in him. Am I right?" Jim asked Carl.

"Oh yeah."

"There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that," Jim said to Carl.

"All right," Carl awkwardly responded to Jim.

"Stay with Carol, all right? You keep your boy close," He muttered to Carl and Lori.

"You don't ever let him out of your sight," Jim whispered to Lori.

Concerned for the man's health I walked over to Jim. "Hey Jim?" I asked.

"Rain isn't it?" he responded. It had surprised me. I didn't think Jim knew my name.

"Yea, I just wanted to check if you were OK. And to say I'm sorry about your family. I haven't lost anyone to these things yet, but I've come close to losing my own skin to them a few times."

"Thanks Rain, I'm doing alright, I guess I just needed to sit down and get some water in me."

"Makes sense to me," I said smiling, "I think we're having a fish fry later. Would you care to join us? Might be good for you."

"I think I'll take you up on that," Jim answered me, a small smile on his face.

I said goodbye to Jim, and with nothing else to do, I sat down by the fire pit sharpening my arrows and knives.

A few hours later, after the sun had gone down, we were all- including Jim, who's calmed down from his earlier episode- seated around the fire, eating the fish Andrea and Amy had caught earlier that day.

"Pass the fish, please," Amy asked.

"Here you go. Man o man, that's good. I miss this," Dale responded grinning.

"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy," Shane said looking at Dale.

"What?" Dale asked looking curious.

"That watch."

"What's wrong with my watch?" Dale asked.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass," Shane said.

"I've wondered this myself," Morales chimed in.

"I'm missing the point."

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while. But there's you every day winding that stupid watch."

"Time it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here." I laughed as Andrea merely shook her head. "I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." What the hell was Dale talking about? I wondered.

"You are so weird," Amy muttered. Thank you Amy.

"It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." I couldn't help but laugh at the look on Dale's face.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked Amy as Amy stood up facing the Winnebago.

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here." We all laughed at Amy, she really was such a teenager, it was always amusing to hear her talk about things. I was munching on my fish when a minute later we saw her pop out of the Winnebago and heard her call out "we're out of toilet paper?" And just like that, the world came crashing down around us when a walker jumped out from behind the door and tore into Amy's shoulder and neck. Everyone at the campfire screamed or jumped up, prepared for a fight. I quickly slung off my bow from my shoulders and nocked an arrow, aiming it at the walker that was above Amy's head. I let the arrow go and the walker immediately dropped. With that Andrea bounded away from the fire and to her sister who now lay dying in the grass.

With no family I had to protect I merely stood in front of Andrea, who didn't seem very capable of defending herself at the moment. I was firing arrow after arrow, however I didn't feel like I was making a dent at all as they continued to pour out from the woods. Turning to stab a walker that had gotten to close for comfort I jabbed my knife through it's skull and tore it back out when I heard a familiar shout from the distance, "RAIN DUCK!" Not even hesitating, I dropped to the ground and saw a walker fall only a few inches behind me. I hadn't even seen it coming, the fucker must have snuck up on me while I was taking care of the other one. I looked and saw that there was an arrow sticking out of it's forehead which meant there was only one person who could have killed it. Daryl.

I turned around and Daryl was only a few feet from me. I panted a small, "thanks," and he merely nodded before turning and firing at a walker a few feet from Carl who had been running to his mother.

"Mom!" I heard Carl call.

"Carl!"

"Lori, get him down! Oh my God," I heard Shane shouting. It didn't matter that we had known that we were in the middle of an apocalypse, this place had seemed do peaceful. And now there was nothing but death and destruction around us.

"Shane, what do we do? Shane?" I heard Lori calling out in the distance.

"Follow me!" I heard Shane shout as I turned and shot an arrow into the skull of an arrow that had gotten dangerously close to Carol and Sophia.

"No! No! Oh God! Oh my God! Help me. Oh God, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do," I could hear Andrea wailing over the body of Amy who looked to be fading fast. I felt bad but I knew that I had to protect the living members of the camp. Besides, as far as I knew, there was now nothing we could do for Amy.

"Come on. Come on, stay close. Carol! Stay close! Come on, y'all! Work your way up here! Shane! Get to the RV! Go! - Shane! Shane! - Stay with me. Stay behind me. Morales, work up here! Get behind me! Let's go! Stay with me. Come on, make your way to the Winnebago!" I heard Rick shouting a ways away from me. I hadn't even noticed the rest of the rescue group return. It seemed like Rick was trying to direct as many people as he could out of harm's way.

"Baby! Carl! Baby!" Lori was shouting next to me.

"Dad!"

"Carl!" I heard Rick calling out to his son.

Shooting the remainder of my arrows, and Shane and Rick firing a few more bullets, the last of the walkers fell. However the air was far from relieved. We had lost close to half of our survivors from the looks of it. Daryl came up to a stop besides me as the remaining survivors looked on the carnage that had once been our happy little camp.

"Amy. I don't know what to do, Amy. Oh, Amy. Oh no no. Amy! Amy! Amy!" Andrea's sobs to her dying sister were now the only sounds that rung out throughout the entire camp.

"I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes."

A/N: Alright, not much to say here but there was a fair bit of action in this episode. Anyways, in the next chapter I think we'll see the journey to the CDC and maybe some more interaction between Rain and Daryl ;) Please review! Oh and I wanted to say thank you to my first 2 followers **kyzhart and Cece12**. Thank you so much guys! Please review! -A


	7. Moving On

Cleaning up the bodies was a messy job but I knew that we had to do it. We were burning the walkers that had invaded our camp, and burying those that we knew. Walking past all of the walkers I had taken down I pulled out my arrows and re sheathed them, Daryl had been doing the same earlier. He now had a pick axe and was driving it into the walkers skulls. Just to be sure that they were gone. I glanced up from my work and wiped the sweat off my brow. Even with my hair tied up, my shirt rolled up, and wearing the smallest pair of shorts I owned, this was hard work, and the Georgian sun was brutal. I sighed and noticed that everyone else was dripping sweat too. Looking to my left I saw that Andrea still hadn't moved from her spot that she had been in since Amy was attacked.

Lori seemed to be making her attempt at getting Andrea to give up Amy. I humphed and thought to myself, good luck, if I was her sister, I wouldn't let you take her either. Just leave them to be, Andrea can handle it when it comes time to take care of Amy.

"Andrea. I'm so sorry that she's gone. You got to let us take her. We all cared about her and I promise we'll be as gentle as we can." It was obvious everyone had been hoping for a different response but there was no way she was going to leave.

"She still won't move?" Dale asked.

"She won't even talk to us. She's been there all night," Lori responded.

"What do we do? Can't just leave Amy like that."

"We need to deal with it same as the others. I'll tell her how it is." Rick answered walking over to Andrea and Amy. "Andrea," Rick started, however before he got the chance to continue Andrea pulled out her gun and cocked it.

"I know how the safety works," Andrea muttered, not even bothering to look at Rick.

"All right. Okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Rick replied moving away from Andrea with his hands up.

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb," Daryl grunted. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Can't Andrea just mourn in peace?

"What do you suggest?" Dale asked.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl answered.

"For God's sakes people, leave her alone! Let her mourn like I know all the rest of you would have wanted if it were your loved one. Andrea will know what to do when the time comes," I snapped. Just because I wasn't necessarily an Andrea fan didn't mean that I wanted to cut short the time she got to mourn her sister.

"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do," Daryl snapped at Jim rolling his eyes and scoffing at me.

"Thanks," Jim answered.

I could hear Glenn and Daryl arguing in the distance but right now I was more focused on Andrea. I walked up to her, unarmed, and called out softly, "Andrea? Look, I don't want to take Amy away from you, I just wanted to pay my respects to her." I slowly approached Amy and almost gagged at the wound on her shoulder and the pasty white color of her skin. Closing my eyes I said a quick prayer and opened them again. I noticed a small mermaid charm that hung from Amy's neck, I was almost positive I'd never seen her wear that before. "That's very pretty Andrea. Amy would have loved it." Although Andrea didn't look up, I did hear her mumble "thank you."

Rising to my feet I prepared to continue helping with the dead when I heard a shout from Jacqui. What now?!

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim." No, I thought to myself as I, and everyone else ran over to where Jim and Jacqui were standing.

While Jim was insisting that he was OK, Rick and Shane were demanding that he show them his bite. When he ignored their request, Daryl stomped over and pulled up Jim's shirt revealing a perfect bite mark. I felt my heart drop when I saw it and heard Jim continue to repeat, "I'm fine."

We all moved away from Jim and the RV to discuss what was to be done now.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it," Daryl grunted. I glared at him for his cruel insensitivity to the entire situation.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

"I hate to say i,t I never thought I would but maybe Daryl's right," Dale agreed.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog," Lori put in.

"I'm not suggesting- He's sick. A sick man."

"We start down that road, where do we draw the line? The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers- or them to be," Daryl added.

"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure," Rick put in.

"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell," Shane muttered.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asked.

"Man, that is a stretch right there."

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot."

"Shelter, protection Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction."

"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance."

"You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care - of this damn problem!" Daryl shouted. Everyone immediately broke into a chase after him to stop him from putting his pick axe in Jim's head. "No!" I shouted and launched myself onto Daryl knocking him over, and landing on top of him. Rick came running over to the both of us and pointed his revolver at Daryl's head.

"We don't kill the living," Rick told Daryl.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head," Daryl spat. Huh, that's actually not a bad point.

We may agree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on." Daryl grunted but threw down the pick axe and looked up at me. I realized awkwardly that I was sitting on top of Daryl and, feeling my face heat up, I jumped off of him allowing him to pull himself off the ground and storm off in a huff.

"Come with me," Rick muttered to Jim.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"Somewhere safe."

Mulling around camp, I had no idea what to do now when I saw that Daryl was leaned over a body about to put the pick axe in it's head, when I realized, it was Ed. I felt no sympathy for the man however, he deserved what he got. I was very surprised when not even a second later, Carol came up to Daryl insisting that she be the one to put the pick axe through his skull. Crying, she took one swing, then 2, then more. It was to the point where it seemed like she would never stop hitting him. I guess she was taking out her anger on him after all these years. Hey, healing has gotta start somewhere I guess.

With nothing else to do, I stalked off into the woods and began a small hunt. Just in case though, I stayed close to our camp. Walking around I debated on whether or not I would want to leave with them. Despite these people's faults, they were a good bunch, even the Dixon brothers. I supposed I could go. But that would mean I'd have to share my supplies, possibly be slowed down or killed while trying to protect people, and I'd never be able to have time to myself. Although if I went out on my own I may not ever be able to speak to another human again, I may get killed in an attack, and I may not be able to gather enough supplies on my own. The choice was a hard one but I had a feeling I would stay. For some reason, a part of me was attached to these people. I wanted to stay and to be able to protect them. Maybe they were beginning to feel like the family I'd lost so long ago.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of my mind I focused on my hunt and within an hour I had caught dinner for all of us. 4 squirrels, a rabbit, and a duck.

Returning to camp I saw Shane stepping up near the group and I knew that they had made a decision to move on. "I've been, uh I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"

That night we'd had the animals that I'd caught in the woods and everyone had gone off to bed immediately after; there had been very little conversation around the fire, so there was no reason to stay after we ate. With no place to sleep, I got up and planned on unpacking my small blanket on the roof of the Winnebago. I had made it about halfway there when I heard a familiar voice drawl out "where ya plannin on sleepin tonight?" To my surprise, it had been Daryl that had spoken to me. I hadn't been expecting it, I thought he hated me.

"On top of the Winnebago, maybe keep whoever is on watch company," I shrugged.

"Look, I don't kind if you wanna use Merle's tent tonight. I had offered you mine but that didn't really work out. So if ya want, the tent don't have anyone in it."

"Um well, sure, I'd really like that Daryl, Thanks."

"Mm-hmm," Daryl mumbled before walking back to his area. I had to follow quickly or else I would've lost him. It was pitch black and I could barely see him ahead of me. Racing to keep up I didn't notice a root that was slightly out of the ground, and I very ungracefully tripped over it. Luckily for me though, Daryl paid no attention. "The one on the left's Merle's. I'm gonna pack up his shit, as soon as I'm done you can have it." Daryl went to go in the tent but before he could, a sudden urge came over me.

"Hey Daryl?"

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about Merle. I hope that you can eventually find him."

"I know that he's still out there somewhere. Asshole sawed off his own hand to get free, cauterized it, and took down 2 walkers. Nothin can kill Merle but Merle." Damn, I thought, that's brutal. Sawed off his own hand? Well I guess when you're desperate. But still, cauterizing the wound? Maybe Merle wasn't as stupid as I originally thought he was. So far it seemed that he was doing OK on his own. "Why'd you say you were sorry?" Daryl asked coming out of Merle's tent and snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Well, he's still a human being, and no one deserved what he got. It was unfair of us to leave him there. Had I been up on the roof when we were leaving I might've tried to help, but I was already in the truck. I didn't notice Merle wasn't with us until we were almost back to camp. Anyways, he's your brother and I know what it's like not to have a family, so I guess I just feel bad that you don't have yours."

Daryl had seemed to mull over what I said before he looked at me and asked "what happened with your family?"

"It's a long story, and we need our rest. Maybe another night," I quietly responded. Seemingly understanding that I didn't want to talk Daryl moved out of the way of the tent and I crawled in. Before zipping up the tent I peeked out out and gave Daryl a small, "goodnight."

For a while I didn't hear anything but right before I drifted off I could have sworn I heard a "you too."

The next morning we all stood in a group centered around Shane who was explaining what was going on. "Everybody listen up. Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB or can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

The group was silent until Morales stepped in and spoke up, "we're, uh. We're we're not going. We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane attempted to argue to have Morales stay.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Shane asked.

"We talked about it. We're sure," Morales answered.

"The box is half full." Rick stated, handing Morales a box of bullets. "Thank you all for everything. Good luck, man."

"Appreciate it," Morales answered. Everyone had said their goodbyes and the Morales family hopped in their car when Shane called out "Channel 40 if you change your minds."

"Yeah. I know," Morales called back.

"Let's move out everyone!" Shane yelled. With that everyone moved to their respective cars and I went searching for an empty car. It seemed that no matter where I went, every car was already crowded. All but one. Daryl was loading a motorcycle in the bed of his truck, however, I saw that the cab was empty. There must not be anyone riding with him.

"Hey Daryl!" I called out, "mind if I hitch a ride?"

He didn't seem too happy about my asking but he nodded his head anyways. I jogged to his truck, threw open his door, tossed in all of my stuff and then jumped in myself, making a cozy spot to settle in. A few moments later Daryl jumped in the truck and revved the engine. I saw him look at me briefly and his eyes widened to almost twice their size. "Damn princess, what the hell happened to you?"

"Ed," I answered between gritted teeth. The only time Daryl had seen me close up in the past day was last night but it had been too dark to see anything. He must not have noticed until now. I noticed Daryl's jaws grind together, but I didn't say anything about it. "Asshole got what he deserved." I didn't say anything back but I nodded in agreement.

The ride had been in comfortable silence so far but I felt the need to start talking come up so I quickly spat out, "you said you wanted to know about my family right?" Daryl looked surprised at my abruptness but nodded anyways. I took a deep breath; I'd never told anyone the full story so to tell someone I barely knew was a big deal. I took in a deep breath and prepared to tell my story.

"Well, I guess I actually had a good childhood growing up. My mom was as sweet as any mother could be and my dad was the kind of dad every daughter wished that they had. Everything was great, even through my early teenage years and then when I was 14 years old, my younger sister was born. I was thrilled at first, I mean a new kid to have in the house! I could get away with more things now too. Everyone was happy and my parents were more in love than I'd ever seeen. But anyways, fast forward 9 months and my mom has my sister. Still, everything is good, but my parents started paying a lot less attention to me. Still, not that bad, I had kind of expected that with a new baby in the house. Anyways, a few months went by and my parents had almost completely stopped talking to me, that seriously hurt. So one day my mom went out to the grocery store... And she never came back. She'd gotten in a car crash and died. The last thing I told my mother was that I hated her, we had gotten into some stupid fight before she left. Needless to say I was devestated, so was my dad. So instead of crying and trying to move on like I did, he took his anger out on me. He would hit me and screamed at me until I was in tears, always saying that my mothers death had been my fault. Saying that my awful attitude had driven her to drive recklessly that day and get in the crash. Trust me, for years I believed him, sometimes I still do. So months more go by and the beatings were at an all time high. My dad would now give them to me when he was drunk; and it was those times when he didn't know how to stop. At that point, he was nearly sending me to the hospital with his beatings so I packed up my things, got emancipated, and left. I put myself through school with 2 jobs and hard work. But anyways with all the stress on me with school and bills and whatnot these past few years, I haven't had any time to make friends. I guess I could say you guys are my first friends since I was 14."

Daryl was silent for a few minutes- probably processing my story- when he finally spoke up, "welcome to the shitty childhood club."

Though it wasn't very helpful, I couldn't help but to laugh and smile. Even Daryl wore a tiny smile, his smile made him look much better. I was about to make a smart ass remark when I heard the horn honk from the Winnebago. "What's goin on?" Daryl asked.

"Judging by the smoke coming from the hood, I'd say the radiator hose finally gave out," I said while hopping out of the truck and making my way to the rest of the group.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one from the cube van," Dale was telling Rick when we walked up.

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead. A gas station if we're lucky," Shane pointed out.

"Y'all, Jim It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore," Jacqui yelled from the RV.

"Hey, Rick, you want to hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back," Shane asked Rick and Rick nodded the affirmative for him to go.

"Yeah, I'll come along too and I'll back you up," T-Dog said coming up beside Shane.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back," Shane called as the 2 retreated to the gas station.

With Shane and T-Dog gone, we all went over to Jim in the RV to check up on him. "My bones are like glass. Every little bump God, this ride is killing me. Leave me here. I'm done. Just leave me. I want to be with my family."

"They're all dead. I don't think you know what you're asking. The fever. You've been delirious more often than not," Rick tried to reason with Jim.

"I know. Don't you think I know? I'm clear now. In five minutes I may not be. Rick, I know what I'm asking. I want this. Leave me here. Now that's on me. Okay? My decision. Not your failure."

Rick came back to the group of us and explained what Jim wanted. "It's what he says he wants."

"And he's lucid?" Dale asked.

"He seems to be. I would say yes."

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

As they had returned from their trip, Shane stepped in then, "we just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."

"It's not your call, either one of you," Lori chimed in.

"Yeah. That's it," Jim moaned as we carried him out of the Winnebago to the end of the woods. "Hey, another damn tree."

"Hey, Jim I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this," Shane said.

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice," Jim answered.

"Okay. All right."

"Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight," Jacqui attempted to soothe Jim.

"Jim, do you want this?" Rick asked holding out a gun for Jim to defend himself with.

"No."

"You'll need it."

"I'm okay. I'm okay."

As everyone said their final goodbyes to Jim, I stepped forward ready to say mine. "Hey Jim, I guess I just wanted to say that it was nice knowing you even though we didn't know each other long. Say hello to your family for me," I said smiling.

"Thank you, Rain." With that, I gave Jim a quick peck on the cheek and made my way back to Daryl's truck.

"We're leaving already?" I asked.

"Yea, I guess they found what they needed to fix up the RV."

"Oh, well great. Let's go I guess," I said, hopping up into the truck and taking off again toward the CDC.

We had barely even made it to the entrance of the CDC and I could already smell death everywhere. It was awful, I was glad I had my jacket on so that I could pull up the hood to keep myself from gagging. There were bodies everywhere, and many were military. It looked like there was no one and nothing left around here. "It feels like this place is deserted," I whispered to Daryl.

"C'mon, let's go see," he whispered back opening his door and motioning for me to open mine. Within seconds, the entire group were out of their cars, ready to see if this entire trip had been a waste of time.

"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go. Okay, keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on," Shane was directing everyone up to the doors of the CDC.

As we made it up to the front the smell was getting worse and there was now a quiet, steady alarm I could hear. "Oh God," I gagged at all the walkers that I was stepping around.

"Keep it together," Daryl muttered next to me, although I could tell he wasn't incredibly happy with this either.

We had finally made it to the front door where everyone was rattling the doors in an attempt to get them to open. "Nothing?" T-Dog asked before pounding on the doors. "There's nobody here," he called out to the rest of the group.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick and I asked at the same time.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out. That was enough to snap me out of my daze of watching the doors. I turned to see a huge group of walkers coming right towards us, I immediately pulled out my Beretta and began shooting the ones that were the closest to us. While the others were moving away from the doors, I stayed put to protect Rick who was entranced with the camera.

"Baby, come on," Lori called to Carl.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl yelled.

"He made a call," Shane defended Rick.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Oh come on, could you guys maybe stop arguing and help me fight these things off? I thought to myself.

"Just shut up. You hear? Shut up. Shut up! Rick, this is a dead end," Shane tried to communicate with Rick who was too fixated with the camera to speak.

"Where are we gonna go?" Lori asked.

"Do you hear me? No blame," Shane said to Rick.

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark," Glenn butted in.

"Fort Benning, Rick. Still an option," Shane tried to argue with Rick, but his gaze was still on the camera.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles. I checked the map. Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now," Glenn argued back.

"Well, think of something. Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please." Shane immediately turned around and called to the rest of the group, "all right, everybody back to the cars. Let's go. Move."

"The camera it moved," Rick said

"You imagined it," Shane sighed trying to pull Rick away from the camera, but he wouldn't budge.

"It moved. It moved," Rick said, thoroughly convinced now.

"Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down," Shane began to plead with his best friend.

As the 2 were arguing over the camera I turned to the walkers and began to take them down one by one, replacing my clip twice already without making a dent. "Shit," I muttered.

I could hear Rick pounding on the doors and shouting now behind me. "Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children- no food, hardly any gas left. If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please! Please help us. You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!"

We have to go!" Daryl shouted to me, running up and pulling on my hand. Just as I was about to follow him, I heard an electronic hiss and the doors that led to the CDC opened, blinding us with a white light. With no other option but to go inside, I ran into the building shouting a "move" behind me. It seemed after I said that, everyone came running in.

Just as we all got situated, Daryl pressed up against me, the doors slammed behind us and we were surrounded by pitch black.

A/N: So first of all, let me apologize for the insane length of this chapter! I just got on a writing kick and by the time I realized how long it was, I had no good place to stop so I just decided to finish it off. One thing I wanted to say was that I've noticed that a lot of people are viewing and reading my story but no one is leaving reviews. Please guys, even if it's just to say "it's good" or "it sucked" I wanna hear it! Anyways, thanks for reading and I should have another chapter up soon. -A


	8. The CDC

After our eyes had adjusted slightly to the darkness, people began to panic, not knowing what was awaiting us in the shadows.

"Daryl, Rain, you cover the back," Rick called out to us. "Watch those doors. Watch for walkers. Hello?" Daryl and I moved to the back of the group checking that the now closed doors weren't allowing any of the walkers entrance to the building. Just as we finished our check, a man in his early 40's appeared looking very uncomfortable, gun in hand.

"Anybody infected?" The man asked.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it," Rick explained to the man, referring to Jim.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." Although it wasn't unreasonable, I felt the color drain from my face; needles and I weren't exactly friends.

"We can do that."

"You OK?" Daryl asked me.

"I'm fine, just not a huge fan of needles." Daryl nodded and nudged me away from the doors.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed," the man explained. T-Dog, Shane, Rick, Daryl, and I ran out to the cars to grab our stuff and once we had finished, we quickly made our way back inside.

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

"Rick Grimes."

"Dr. Edwin Jenner," the man introduced himself. So that was the man's name.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl asked. I couldn't help but to giggle slightly. Dr. Jenner turned to me and for a moment I sobered up, however when he gave me a smile smile I sighed and smiled back.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough. Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you," Jenner said, nodding to Carl, who simply smiled shyly.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked.

"Are you claustrophobic?"

"A little."

"Try not to think about it." The elevator doors opened and we were dispersed into a huge room lined with computers. It looked like the research center of the CDC. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room. Welcome to zone 5."

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Andrea asked.

"I'm it. It's just me here," Jenner answered. I could see the hope in Andrea's eyes dim.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome." Just then an automated voice came over the speakers saying, "Hello, guests. Welcome."

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea was doing her blood test and was clearly unhappy about it.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough. All done." As she stood up though, she began to lose her balance and fall, however she was caught by Jacqui.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked.

"She hasn't eaten in days, none of us have" Jacqui answered.

"Alright, last one up," Jenner called out to me.

"Hey, Rain, you all right?" Daryl asked putting his hand on my shoulder. It was only then that I realized that I had been swaying a bit.

"Uh yeah, I just really hate needles."

"Well, c'mon, gotta get this done." Daryl grabbed my arm and led me over to the table where Jenner was seated, and pushed me into the chair keeping me planted there with his hands on my shoulders.

"Just close your eyes and it'll be done before you know it," Jenner told me. I nodded and jumped when the needle hit my skin. Daryl squeezed his hands on my shoulder hard to keep me from jumping even more. Eventually I felt Jenner remove the needle and I opened my eyes breathing a sigh of relief.

"All done," Jenner told me, smiling. I nodded a thanks to him and got up, heading to the dinner table where everyone was already set up. Daryl grabbed me by the wrist and planted me in the chair next to him, and between Dale. I smiled and took a huge helping from Lori as she passed out the plates.

For a while, the table was silent, everyone was stuffing their faces with the food, until Dale piped up looking at Carl, "you know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori replied, ever the responsible mother.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick prodded his wife.

"Come on Lori," I added in, giving the mother a wink. Lori finally sighed and nodded while Dale handed him a small cup.

"There you are, young lad," Dale said, smiling as he watched Carl sniff the liquid. I smiled as everyone around the table watched with baited breath over what Carl would say about the wine.

After taking a small sip Carl kept a straight face until he shouted, "yuck! That tastes nasty." Everyone around the table laughed as Lori breathed a sigh of relief saying "that's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy."

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud," Shane smiled at the young boy. Glenn went to reach for the soda as well when Daryl cut him off.

"Not you, Glenn."

"What?" Glenn asked, not understanding what Daryl was getting at.

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl prodded at Glenn, who turned slightly red but took the bottle of Bourbon I handed to him. Myself and Daryl had found a few bottles of the drink and kept them for ourselves while the others opted for wine.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," Rick suddenly cut into our dinner.

"He is more than just our host. Hear hear! Here's to you, doc," I smiled hoisting my bottle in the air to Jenner.

"Booyah!" Daryl shouted, raising his bottle in the same fashion I had. That was when I lost it, I laughed so hard that for a moment I almost fell out of my chair, and I would have, had Dale not caught me.

"Watch it, tipsy girl," Dale smiled at me helping me upright.

I was about to respond when I heard Shane ask "so when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the- the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick cut in.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move- supposed to find all the answers. Instead we- we found him.  
>Found one man. Why?"<p>

Jenner looked down at his plate for a minute and sighed before taking a deep breath,"well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left.  
>Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."<p>

"Every last one?" I asked.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked.

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

The table was silent until Glenn spoke up, "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man." Everyone laughed at Glenn's drunken stupor, and suddenly the jovial mood had returned.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, But there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? or anything that draws power. The same applies- If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Wait, did I just hear shower?

"Hot water?" Glenn asked.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog responded smiling. It was needless to say that after that, everyone tore out of the dining room looking for the rooms and showers. I myself had been slightly slower because of the full stomach and alcohol. I had a stupid grin on my face wandering down the hall looking for a room to stay in. I came across one that I had believed to be empty at the end of the hall, and barged in ready to hop in the shower. However as soon as I threw open the door, I saw that Daryl was standing right in front of me. '

"Oh! I'm sorry! I thought this room was empty! I guess I'll take the rec room couch, everywhere else is full."

"Huh, oh no Rain, it's fine. You can take the bed, I'll take the couch," Daryl said as he motioned to the couch across from the bed.

"What no! You were here first! The bed is yours."

"Girl, just take the damn bed. I'm going to the shower."

"Oh, well uh, OK. I guess I'll use it when you're done," I called to Daryl as he walked out of the room, a fresh set of clothes in hand. I walked over to the bed, dropping my stuff off and pulling out some fresh clothes. Rummaging around in the counters I found everything I needed, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and a new toothbrush. "Oh, thank God," I mumbled to myself. I grabbed my loot and waited patiently for Daryl to return so I knew it was safe to go to the showers.

A few minutes later Daryl walked back into the room, "your turn, no one's in there."

"Thanks, I'll be back in a bit," I said to Daryl as I grabbed my stuff and brushed past him to get to the showers. Once I got in the shower, I quickly stripped off my dirty clothes, throwing them onto the floor and stepping into the shower stall. Turning the dial, I turned the water on and the stream of fresh water hitting my body was probably one of the best things I'd ever felt. Singing quietly to myself, I washed my hair out twice, did a thorough scrubbing of my body, and shaved. Oh how I've missed feeling hairless! There were certain areas that were getting to be a bit... Overwhelming.

Humming to myself I turned off the water and I wrapped the soft towel around myself. I spent about 10 minutes drying off and towel drying my hair. I smiled as I slipped on my fresh pair of clothes, well my over sized Christmas t shirt that read I DO NAUGHTY NICELY from Victoria's Secret. I blushed realizing that I would have to sleep next to Daryl in this but I quickly shrugged it off. We're both drunk, we probably won't even remember it.

I stepped out of the showers barefoot and debated on going to the rec room for a bit. Nah, I thought, the kids are in there and their mothers would probably have an aneurism if I wore this around there "impressionable" children. Instead, I laughed and took another swig of the bourbon bottle I'd brought to the shower with me.

Strutting down the hallway, stumbling slightly, I ran into an also slightly intoxicated T-Dog. "I like the new outfit Rain, it suits you," he slurred out.

I laughed, tripping over myself, and threw back a quick thanks, and goodnight. Making my way down the rest of the hallway, I threw open the door to my room only to see Daryl on the couch sharpening his arrows with a bottle of liquor on the floor next to him. Shit, I thought, that bottle's almost empty.

As I remembered what I was wearing I felt my face heat up. Instead of turning around, Daryl laughed, "cute jammies, Rain."

I laughed, "well Dixon, no pants are the best pants indeed!"

Had I not been so intoxicated I might have noticed the color briefly rise to Daryl's face. "Come on you, lets get you to bed. You're gonna hate the morning."

"I'm really not tired yet though, Daryl!" I whined. He sighed and pushed me down onto the mattress. With no fight left in me, I conceded and flopped back into the bed. "Hey Daryl?" He merely humphed in response. "Even though most of them out there are afraid of you or think you're a stick in the mud, I think you're pretty damn cool."

Daryl sat there, not knowing what to say for a few moments, and when he finally did think of a response, I was already deep in a drunken slumber.

Daryl's P.O.V.

I stared at Rain for a minute. Jesus, the girl must have drank more than I thought if she's out that fast. I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh slightly at the sight of her. Over sized and raunchy t shirt, hanging half out of the bed, with the blankets pulled around her. I figured that I should probably help the girl back into bed, so I moved over to her and lifted her legs back into the bed while pulling her down so that her head was on the pillow. As I did so I didn't realize that the shirt had come up to reveal a very... small pair of underwear. Blushing, I quickly threw the blankets over her and ran back to my spot on the couch, and continued sharpening my arrows.

Not even an hour later there was an annoying rattling coming from the bed. It was Rain, she was shaking so hard from the cold that the entire bed frame was shaking. Knowing that there was no way I'd be able to get to sleep with that noise, I pulled off the majority of my blankets and placed them over Rain. Slowly her shivering stopped and a small smile rested on her lips. I couldn't help but to chuckle slightly as I laid back down on the couch smiling at the content look on her face as she was buried in the blankets.

Pull yourself together Dixon! My thoughts seemed to yell at me. You're turning into a pussy around this girl and that is not who we Dixon's are! You pull yourself together and stop acting like a little girl!

With those thoughts on my mind, I wiped the smile off of my face, turned off the lights, and settled into my spot on the couch. Oh yeah, I thought, this hangover is gonna suck in the morning.

A/N: So obviously not a whole lot going on in this chapter. The next will have the action from the CDC, I just figured this would be a good time to put in some fluff since there aren't a lot of other great opportunities to do it. Anyways, like I had said last chapter, please review guys! I see that this story gets a lot of traffic but no one has reviewed and reviews help me fix my stories or just write them better. Even if it's just to say hi, please leave a review! -A


	9. Escape

"Damn it," I groaned, sitting up in bed. I'd only barely made it upright before the wave of nausea and the splitting headache hit me. "Hello hangover, I certainly haven't missed you," I grumbled, reluctantly pulling myself out of the bed. Just as I stood up though, I remembered what I was wearing and that Daryl was in the room too. Looking over at the couch, Daryl had sprawled out, and was sleeping soundly. Deciding that it would be best to wake him up before I went to breakfast, I went over to him, nudging his shoulder.

Daryl grumbled and squinted up at me, and immediately rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you want girl?"

"C'mon Daryl, it's time for breakfast, we need to get up." He seemed to ignore me, and just as I was about to attempt to push him off the couch, he began to move and hoist himself off of the couch. "Well?" he asked.

"What?" answered, genuinely curious.

Daryl rolled his eyes again at me and pointed at the door, "number 1, you wanted to go get breakfast so lets go, number 2, I don't know if ya wanna wear that around everyone else but if not, ya might wanna change first."

I looked down at my outfit and blushed like crazy when I realized what I had been wearing. Almost all of my thighs were showing, and I was dangerously close to showing something else. "Uh yea, I guess I'll uh, meet you downstairs for breakfast," I mumbled while grabbing my clothes for the day and making a mad dash for the bathroom to get changed. Hastily pullling of my sleepshirt, I replaced it with a pair of cargo shorts and a tight black t shirt. Before I left the bathroom, I pulled on my boots and stood up, returning my sleep shirt to its spot on the bed. Turning away from the room, I made my way back to the dining room and was immediatly faced with the smell of eggs, bacon, and coffee. This is what Heaven is like, I thought to myself as I went up to T-Dog, who was making the eggs.

"Morning," T-Dog chirped, "how's the hangover treating you?"

"Ugh, just give me 10 cups of coffee and I'll be good."

T-Dog laughed and Carol came up behind me, handing me a mug, "well there's 1 down," she said. I gave Carol a quick thanks and took a plate of eggs from T-Dog.

"They're powdered but I do 'em good," he explained.

"I believe you, they look great," I replied smiling, taking a seat between Daryl and Dale like I had last night.

"Are you hungover? Mom said you'd be," Carl asked his dad as Rick came and took a seat across from me.

"Mom is right. Mom has that annoying habit," Rick replied, smiling at his family.

"In your dad's defense," I started, looking at Carl "almost everyone is, some of us are just better at hiding it than others," I told Carl, winking at him.

Carl smiled at me and nudged his dad. Hey, maybe I was getting better at this whole kids thing. Just as I was getting up for another helping Glenn walking out, looking absolutely miserable. "Hey there buddy, looking good," I prodded at Glenn. He merely glared at me, but he couldn't hold it. He let out a small chuckle a second later.

"Eggs. Powdered, but I do 'em good. I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover," T-Dog explained, handing Glenn the plate. The scientific part of me wanted to cut in and tell them that there actually is no cure for a hangover but time. Glenn would just have to wait it out like the rest of us. However, I decided to let him have a little hope and just eat the eggs.

"Where'd all this stuff come from?" I asked, suddenly curious how we'd gotten all this food.

"Jenner. He thought we could use it," Rick answered me.

"Thank you," I looked at Jenner, smiling. He merely nodded at me in response.

"Don't ever ever ever let me drink again," Glenn moaned from the end of table. I laughed and nudged him.

"Don't worry buddy, you get used to it real fast." That earned laughs from everyone at the table.

"The hell happened to you? Your neck?" Rick asked Shane as he stepped into the room. He had 3 of what looked like, scratches from nails, on his neck.

"I must have done it in my sleep," he answered.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick answered, looking worried for his friend.

"Me neither. Not like me at all," Shane replied, looking at Lori.

"No way, he would've had to have longer nails to do that," I whispered to Daryl. He nodded and motioned to Lori. "That's what I was thinking too," I mumbled.

As Jenner moved over to the main table, the group chorused their hello's' and good morning's. "Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing-" Dale started.

"But you will anyway," Jenner interrupted.

Andrea however, cut in saying, "we didn't come here for the eggs." I thought we might have struck a nerve but he smiled and said to come with him to zone 5.

"Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner told the computers as soon as we had all made it into zone 5.

"Playback of TS-19," Vi answered.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

"Is that a brain?" Andrea asked.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for EIV."

"Enhanced internal view," Vi answered.

"What are those lights?"

"It's a person's life- experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, All those ripples of light, is you- The thing that makes you unique. And human."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl snapped. I laughed lightly and decided to explain.

They're synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages, Daryl," I answered. I turned to him to see everyone in the group, including Jenner, staring at me like I had grown a 3rd arm. "Sorry," I mumbled, blushing, "I'm kind of a science nerd."

"It's OK," Jenner answered me, smiling. "But yes, they are synapses. They determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?," Lori asked.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event."

"What is that?" Lori asked.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be, gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked. I was surprised, I didn't think that I'd ever heard Sophia speak except to call her mother.

"Yes," Carol simply answered.

"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister," Jacqui told Jenner, referring to Andrea losing Amy.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is. Scan to the second event," Jenner said, walking over to Andrea, and putting an arm on her shoulder.

"Scanning to second event," Vi responded.

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute. Seven seconds," Jenner told us, looking very nostalgic.

"So it restarts the brain?" I asked Jenner.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Lori asked.

"You tell me. It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark. Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, The human part- that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

"God," I heard Carol gasp as something ripped through the patient on the screens head. A bullet. The test subject had come back and he had shot them.

"What was that?" Lori asked.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea asked Jenner.

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations," Jenner instructed to computer.

"Powering down main screen and workstations," Vi responded.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked Jenner.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal," Jenner responded.

"Or the wrath of god?" Jacqui put in.

"There is that," Jenner responded shrugging.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody, somewhere. There are others, right? Other facilities?" Lori asked.

"There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Andrea asked.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives- all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month," Jenner explained to her.

"So it's not just here," I sighed. There was nowhere safe, nowhere to go.

"There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right? Jesus."

"Man, I'm gonna get shit faced drunk again," Daryl groaned, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"I think I'll join you again," I mumbled to Daryl.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you And I hate to ask one more question, but, that clock- It's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked. I looked up on the wall and saw that there was, in fact, a clock counting down to zero.

"The basement generators, they run out of fuel," Jenner said

"And then?" Dale asked.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

"Decontamination- what does that mean?" Shane asked. Jenner merely shook his head and walked off leaving us standing there.

"So what should we do?" I asked.

"C'mon, maybe see if we can find something down by the generators," Rick answered.

"I don't like the way Jenner clammed up. The way he just wandered off like that," Shane said once we had made our way down to the basement generators.

"What's wrong with him? Seriously, man, Is he nuts, medicated, what? In there," T-Dog said, walking ahead of us a bit.

"Check that way. Shane." Rick called out.

"It's empty," Shane responded.

"Emergency lighting on," we heard Vi call over the intercom.

"What the hell is this? Hey, you guys kill the lights?" Glenn called to us.

"Nah, it just went out," Daryl responded.

"Anything?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, a lot of dead generators and more empty fuel drums than I can count," Glenn responded.

"It can't be down to just that one," Shane said.

Just then, I remembered what we had briefly learned about the construction of the CDC's in my classes when I had still been in school. If what was happening was what I thought was happening, we were fucked. "Uh, you guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when I was in school we had to learn about the CDC and how it was built. I think it's shutting itself down, and if that's what I think is happening, we're about to be in a shit ton of trouble. So maybe we should head back up, see if it's going on upstairs too?" I suggested. Worried looks were on everyone's faces, and for a minute I felt bad for even saying anything, but Rick nodded to me and we all made our way back up to zone 5.

It seemed like just as we made it back, so did everyone else.

"Why is the air off? And the lights in our room?" Carol asked, popping out of her room.

"What's going on? Why is everything turned off?" Rick asked Jenner as we moved back into zone 5.

"Energy use is being prioritized."

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale asked.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down," Jenner responded, moving away from us.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean? Hey man, I'm talking to you," Shane yelled, following Jenner.

"What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?" Daryl asked.

"You'd be surprised."

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked, approaching the man.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule. It was the French."

"What?" Andrea and I asked at the same time.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Andrea asked.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel."

"Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!" Rick yelled, obviously now afraid of what was coming.

"What's that? What's that? Doc, what's going on here? Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go! Let's go. Come on! No!" Everyone yelled as a huge metal door came slamming down in front of us, trapping us inside.

"What the hell?!" I screamed at Jenner.

"Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yelled.

"We've hit the 30-minute window. I am recording," Jenner muttered.

"Carl," Lori called out.

"Mom!" the little boy yelled, running to meet his mother.

"You son of a bitch," Shane growled, approaching Jenner.

"Shane!" Rick yelled, chasing after him.

"You let us out of here!" Someone yelled in the distance.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now," Shane growled.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well, open the damn things," Shane yelled.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes? What happens in 28 minutes?!" Shane yelled at Jenner.

"COME ON! You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever! In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example- H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asked.

"Oh shit," I muttered under my breath. It was exactly what I thought.

"Vi, define."

"H.I.T.s- high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives cocoists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear."

"The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired. It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief regret. Everything."

"Open the damn door! Out of my way!" Daryl yelled, with an axe in hand he ran over to the door.

"Daryl!" I yelled.

"You should've left well enough alone, it would've been so much easier," Jenner sighed.

"Easier for who?" I snapped.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short, brutal life and an agonizing death. Your- your sister- what was her name?" Jenner asked, looking over at Andrea.

"Amy," Andrea whispered.

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Jenner asked Rick.

"I don't want this," Rick motioned around us.

"Can't make a dent," Daryl panted. He and T-Dog had been hitting the shutter door with the axes.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner said.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl yelled while running to Jenner with the axe.

"Daryl! Daryl! Just back up! Back up! You do want this," I said to him, placing my hand on his chest, trying to push him away from Jenner and back to the main group. He merely huffed, but he did back off.

"Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead," Jenner said, looking at Rick.

What? I wondered. How could Rick have said that?

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Lori asked her husband, looking betrayed.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick asked her.

"There is no hope, there never was," Jenner replied, looking at the ground.

"There's always hope," I said looking at Jenner.

"Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, But somebody somewhere-" Jenner started.

"What part of "Everything is gone" Do you not understand?" Andrea snapped.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here," Carol begged.

"One tiny moment- A millisecond. No pain," Jenner said, looking at Carol hopefully.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this," she responded, looking on the verge of tears.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked. Right after he asked that though, Shane went after Jenner with his shotgun.

"Shane, no!" Rick yelled.

"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way! Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off," Shane gritted out with the barrel of his shotgun pointed at Jenner.

"Do you hear me?! Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this," Rick pleaded with his friend.

"Shane, you listen to him," Lori called out.

"It's too late," Jenner said.

"He dies, we all- we all die! Shane! Shane! Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick asked, shaking his best friend.

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane snapped at Rick.

"I think you're lying," Rick said to Jenner.

"What?"

"You're lying. About no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter," Jenner sighed.

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" Lori asked.

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise. To her. My wife," Jenner answered, pointing up to the screen where Test Subject 19 was displayed.

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? - She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's- that's all we want- A choice, a chance. Let us keep trying as long as we can," Rick begged.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those," Jenner answered Rick. However, with a sigh, he turned to the computer, typed in a command, and opened the doors to zone 5.

"Come on! Let's go! Come on, let's go! Come on! Move it! Move it! Come on, let's go!" Everyone around me was shouting.

"We're gonna get out of here, Sophia," Carol soothed Sophia, who was on the verge of tears.

"There's your chance. Take it," Jenner said to us.

"I'm grateful," Rick said to Jenner.

"The day will come when you won't be," Jenner mumbled.

"Let's go! Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on! Let's go," I yelled, allowing Daryl to pull me by the arm out of the building. I had wanted to stay to see that everyone had gotten out safely, however, Daryl seemed determined to pull us out of the building. Just before we got out of earshot of the rest of the group though, I heard to short exchange between Jacqui and T-Dog.

"Let's go," T-Dog said, trying to pull Jacqui out.

"No no, I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie," Jacqui said to him, smiling.

"But that's insane!" T yelled at her.

"No, it's completely sane. For the first time in a long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue and no point, not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out," Jacqui said, pushing T away from her.

T! Come on," I shouted pulling him from his trance. I gave Jacqui a small smile before turning to the spot where Andrea and Dale were sitting.

"Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" I yelled to the pair.

"I'm staying too," Andrea said.

"Andrea, no," Dale tried to plead with her.

"Just go! Go!"

"Andrea, This isn't what Amy would want for you," Dale continued to try to reason with her.

"She's dead, and you need to leave."

Just like that, I was pulled from the room by Daryl, and brought into the chaos ensuing in the main room. "Get them doors open! Come on! It doesn't work! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Try it! Try it! Try it now! Come on! Come on!" Everyone was shouting, and attempting to throw anything they could find at the windows.

"Time's almost up," Rick said to everyone.

"Daryl, look out! Dog, get down! Get down!" T-Dog was yelling as he attempted to smash the window with a chair.

"The glass won't break?" Lori asked.

"The glass is blast proof! There's not much that's gonna be able to shatter it!" I shouted.

"Rick, I have something that might help," Carol stated, pulling out a nail file from her bag.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it," Shane said.

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket," Carol stated, ignoring Shane, she pulled out a grenade from her bag. Rick happily took and and pushed her lightly away.

"Look out! Get down! Get down! Shit! Okay," Rick shouted before pulling the pin and running. Daryl flipped over a table and pulled me down behind it, putting himself in front of me. Just like that I heard the huge blast and the shattering of the windows. Ears ringing and slightly shaken, I was pulled to my feet by Daryl who dragged me out of the window, leading the rest of the group. The noise had attracted many walkers so as we left we were forced to take down the walkers that were blocking our paths to the cars. I jammed my knife in the head of a walker directly in front of me, as I saw Daryl do the same to my right. With us clearing the rest of the path, I took off to the truck and launched myself into it. Ducking down slightly, I counted down to the blast in my head while watching the CDC.

"Wait wait wait. They're coming. They got out, Dale and Andrea," I pointed out to Daryl.

"Come on. Dale, get down! Down! Get back! Everybody down! Down! Get down! Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Get in, get in, get in. Get in!" I could hear everyone shouting from the other cars as they all jammed themselves into their spots. Just like that, I reached 5 seconds in my head and it appeared that Daryl had come to the same conclusion.

"Get down!" Daryl shouted suddenly, pushing me onto the floorboards and covering me with his own body. Only a second later, I felt the insane heat wave of the explosion, and I heard the deafening explosion coming from the building. If the ringing had been bad in my ears before, it was horrible now.

After about a minute, Daryl pulled himself off of me and helped to get me out of my place in the floorboards. "You OK?" He asked me. Not able to say anything I merely nodded and looked out the window to see Andrea and Dale, unharmed, jump into the Winnebago.

"I guess it's time to go, huh?" I asked Daryl. He nodded and revved the engine. Our small caravan began to leave the CDC's lot when I turned to Daryl and asked, "so where do we go now?"

"I have no idea," Daryl responded.

With that, I looked back at the fire-y remains of the CDC and said goodbye to the only real chance we had. Where the hell are we gonna go now?

A/N: Hey everyone, I know this is a huge chapter but I really wanted to get on to season 2. Once we get to the farm, I'll get to have Rain interact with the other characters a lot more. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed. Please please please review! -A


	10. Highway 81

We'd been driving through the night and all day to try to put as much distance between us and the CDC as we could. The only problem was that we had no idea where we should go. The ride with Daryl and I had been almost silent since we had left the CDC. It wasn't uncomfortable but I was growing bored. Deciding to be nosy, I opened up his glove box and began to rifle through his stuff. After pulling out boring looking papers, I caught sight of a CD. Pulling it out, I couldn't help but laugh at it. It was a George Strait album. "George Strait huh? Good choice."

"You like him? And hey, just cuz I don't hate ya don't mean ya can go pawing through ma shit," Daryl said.

I laughed and smiled, "hell yea I do. Can I play it?" I asked him. Daryl nodded so I popped the CD out of its case and pushed it into the player. An odd metallic-y sound came on and I smiled at the first song that played.

I'm not gonna lay around and whine and moan  
>Cause somebody done done me wrong<br>Don't think for a minute that I am gonna sit around  
>and sing some old sad song<br>I believe it's half full not a…half empty glass  
>Every day I wake up…knowing it could be my last<p>

I ain't here for a long time…I'm here for a good time  
>So bring on the sunshine to hell with the red wine<br>Pour me some moonshine  
>When I am gone put it in stone he left nothing behind<br>I ain't here for a long time…I'm here for a good time

Folks are always dreaming about what they like to do  
>But I like to do…just what I like<br>I'll take the chance…dance the dance  
>It might be wrong but then again it might be right<br>There's no way of knowing…what tomorrow brings  
>Life's too short to waste it I say bring on anything<p>

I ain't here for a long time…I'm here for a good time  
>So bring on the sunshine to hell with the red wine<br>Pour me some moonshine  
>When I am gone put it in stone he left nothing behind<br>I ain't here for a long time…I'm here for a good time

I ain't here for a long time  
>I'm here for a good time.<p>

"Here For A Good Time huh?" I asked Daryl. "I didn't peg you for that type," I said, poking him in the shoulder.

"Very funny," he grunted. "You uh, have a nice voice."

"Oh, thanks," I said, looking away and blushing like crazy. Right as I looked back though, I almost wished I hadn't. There was a huge traffic jam and it looked to me like the only way through was walking. "Really? You've got to be kidding me," I grumbled, hopping out of the car when I saw everyone else doing the same.

"See a way through?" Dale asked.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass-" Glenn started, however he was cut off by Rick.

"We can't spare the fuel." Jeez. Of course we can't.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water," Dale started mumbling by the Winnebago.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of- Okay, that was dumb." I had now realized what the problem was, the radiator hose had stopped working- again.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here, there's a whole bunch of stuff we can find," Rick suggested.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start," T-Dog offered.

"Maybe some water," Carol added.

"Or food," I grumbled.

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this," Lori said, looking very guilty. I get it girl, but it ain't like these people are using them anymore.

"Sorry Lori, but we need the supplies and these people clearly aren't using them," I piped up giving Lori an apologetic smile.

"Come on, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can," Rick said as we all went off looking for useful supplies.

Walking to the back of the car pile up, just a bit past where Daryl and T-Dog were, I looked into a dark green mini van. The van seemed empty but just to be safe, I pulled out my knife. Throwing open the van I held up my knife, but nothing was in the car. I jumped in and pulled to emergency hatch for the trunk release. Walking over to the back of the car, I smiled as I saw a large bunch of clothes. I picked out a handful and threw it in an empty box. I also saw a handgun, a Colt by the looks of it, which I threw into the box, a carton of cigarettes- which I was sure Daryl would appreciate- and a few bottles of water. Smiling at the lot I'd find, I tossed the box on the ground and prepared to head back to the group, however when I looked up there was a walker a few feet in front of me. Gasping, I jumped back and almost lost my footing. Once I had steadied myself though, I moved forward grabbing the walker by the shoulders and driving my knife through its skull. Sighing as the walker fell, I prepared to move up to the rest of the group, however looking up I saw a huge herd of walkers headed for us. Oh fuck, there has to be at least a few hundred of them.

With no idea what to do, I jumped behind the van. Damn it, they would see me when they got here. Praying that the rest of the group was safe, I shimmied under the van and held my breath as I heard the moans getting closer. A part of me wanted to scream when I saw the first few sets of feet drag by but I held my cool and closed my eyes. After what seemed like hours, I couldn't hear the groaning of the walkers anymore so I carefully climbed out from underneath the car and made my way quietly to the front of the group, just trailing behind the hoard of walkers. Not seeing the rest of the group, I almost screamed when I saw 2 dead bodies on the floor but I sighed when I realized it was just Daryl and T-Dog moving the bodies off of them.

"Thank God," I sighed running over and hugging Daryl. I felt him immediately stiffen and I awkwardly let go. Though he had no emotion on his face, I could tell from his eyes, that he was relieved.

"Glad you figured out a place to hide," T-Dog whispered as he pulled me in for a hug. I was just about to answer him when I heard an ear piercing shout. Whipping around, I saw that it was Sophia, who was now running of into the woods with 2 walkers hot on her trail. Darting from my spot without even thinking about it, I tore after Sophia ignoring Daryl who had hissed my name as I took off.

Making it to the wood line at the same time as Rick, we both made a mad dash after Sophia. Since she was smaller and slower we caught up to her pretty fast.

"Shh shh! Sophia, are you all right? Are you okay?" I asked her, pulling her into me.

"Shoot them!" She yelled reaching for my gun.

No. No! Those walkers on the road would hear it. Then it wouldn't be just two, it'd be hundreds. Come here. Come on," Rick told her stepping in. Rick pulled her by the wrist and dragged her to a small out cove in the river bank. "All right, just hold here. You stay there. Wait.  
>Come on. Sophia, you have to do exactly as I say. Hide in there. Squeeze in tight. Rain and I will draw them away from you."<p>

"No no, don't leave me," Sophia pleaded.

"Listen listen listen listen. They don't get winded. We do. We can only deal with them one at a time. We wouldn't be able to protect you.  
>This is how we all survive. You understand? Okay? Go go go go. If I don't make it back, run back to the highway, back to the others straight the way we came. Keep the sun on your left shoulder," Rick told her giving her the extra instructions just in case.<p>

"Hey Sophia, it'll be fine, just hide there for a bit, until we've drawn them off," I told her, ruffling her hair and running off with Rick to take care of the walkers. As Rick took down the farthest one, I pulled off my bow, nocked and arrow and sent it flying into the bastards head. With the walkers taken care of I turned to Rick and nodded in the direction that we had left Sophia in. Sprinting to the out cove I was suprised to see that Sophia was no longer there. "She must have decided to make her way back to the highway," I told Rick.

"Yea, let's head back," he stated. Turning to the highway we made the quick journey to where our group was stuck. Spotting our people as we emerged from the treeline I saw everyone standing there waiting for us. Everyone but one. Where was Sophia?

"Sophia's not here?" I asked, walking up.

"No, we thought you had found her!" Carol cried. Rick soon stepped in and explained the whole situation while I moved over to Daryl who was glaring at me.

"Coulda gotten yourself killed," he snapped at me.

"I had to try to help her, Daryl. I couldn't have lived with myself if she had gotten attacked because I was too slow." Daryl huffed but nodded his head anyways. "Maybe we can show you guys where we left her, see if we can figure out where she went," I suggested.

"Not a bad idea, Rain. C'mon y'all," Rick stated.

"Sure this is the spot?" Shane asked.

"We left her right here. Drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek."

"Without a paddle seems where we've landed."

"She was gone by the time we got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder," Rick answered.

"Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail," Daryl snapped at Glenn who was walking around directly over top of the trail.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right," Shane arrogantly stepped in.

"Shane, she understood me fine."

"Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck," Shane said.

"Got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway," Daryl said catching a trail that Sophia had left.

"Let's spread out, make our way back. She couldn't have gone far," Rick suggested.

"Hey, we gonna find her. She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere."

"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way. Why would she do that?" Daryl asked. Immediately my mind jumped to walkers and I felt my heart stop.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off," Rick suggested.

"A walker?" Glenn asked.

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers," Daryl said. Oh thank God.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked.

"No, better if you, Rain, and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm. I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied. Come on," Rick said. He turned to Daryl and the 2 headed off.

Sighing the 3 of us headed back to highway where the rest of the group was moving cars to clear a path. "Great," I muttered to T-Dog lightly who laughed and pulled me over to move a small sedan.

"Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" Carol asked.

"We have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running. Now that we have fuel we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map. Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess," Dale explained to her.

"We're not going anywhere till my daughter gets back," Carol snapped.

"Hey, that goes without saying, Carol. We're gonna find her and we'll be out of here when we do," I reassured the older woman.

"Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay? Just a matter of time," Lori consoled.

"Can't be soon enough for me," Carol muttered.

"Oh God, they're back," Andrea spoke up.

I immediately ran forward hoping that Sophia wou;d be between the 2 men, however my heart sank when I saw that they were alone.

"You didn't find her?" Carol asked the two.

"Her trail went 'll pick it up again at first light," Rick answered.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods," Carol pleaded.

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost," Daryl tried to reason with Carol.

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" Carol asked, praying that she would get some indication of her daughter's safety.

"I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out we tracked her for a while. We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this," Rick tried to console Carol.

"Is that blood?" she asked.

"We took down a walker," Rick answered.

"Walker? Oh my God."

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia."

"How can you know that?"

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure," Daryl cut in.

Oh God. That's disgusting. That must've been what that awful smell around them was. God damn those two could really use a dip in the water. Not that I couldn't though.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" Carol began to cry.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance," Rick explained, trying to justify the fact that we had had to leave Sophia defenseless.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol," Shane tried to help his best friend.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child," Carol sobbed.

"It was our only option. The only choice we could make," I tried, hoping I could get through to Carol.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that," Shane tried again.

"My little girl got left in the woods," Carol mumbled before running off the the RV. Well that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Slowly, we all dispersed having nothing more to say to each other.

While I was moving a car, Daryl came up to me and helped push it off the road. "Thanks," I mumbled to him.

"We can share the truck if you want," Daryl offered.

"Thanks Daryl, you don't mind?"

"Nah, I've learned to tolerate you, girl."

I laughed and pushed Daryl, who didn't budge at all. He seemed to find my lack of strength against him amusing as he was laughing at me. "Oh shove it, Dixon," I muttered.

Later that night I was curled up on one end of the truck tucked in a thin blanket while Daryl was on the other side in a similar position. I could tell Daryl was already asleep, he was snoring softly. At least he's getting a good night's sleep, I thought. I, on the other hand was gonna be up all night thinking, was Sophia all right? Hang in there girl, we're coming.

The next morning, I stumbled to the RV where Rick was handing out weapons. "Everybody takes a weapon," he called.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea asked.

"We've been over that. Daryl, Rick, Rain and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles," Shane replied, rolling his eyes.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about. And why does she get to carry?" Andrea turned her heated glare on me.

"Because I know how to use it. I'm not gonna fire a round off when I see a God damn squirrel run in front of me," I snapped at her. I could just hear Daryl's snort to my right.

"She's right. Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it," Shane told her, rolling his eyes.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark. Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other. Everybody assemble your packs. Keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move. We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to," Rick explained to all of us.

"Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back," Dale called to us.

We had been walking for about 20 minutes when we came across a lone tent in the woods. Could Sophia maybe be hiding in it? It would've worked as a place for her to sleep last night.

"She could be in there," Glenn broke my train of thought.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there," Daryl muttered.

"Carol. Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear," Rick instructed.

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy."

With no answer, Daryl went into the tent, armed with his crossbow. I knew that he could handle himself, although a part of me was still worried about him. When did I start caring for Daryl too? I thought. I used to hate him when we first met. I guess on the ride to the CDC. I suppose we had bonded then.

"Daryl? Daryl?" I called out to him. Right after, he jumped out of the tent and I felt a weight lift off of me.

"It ain't her."

"What's in there?" I asked.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?"

"What direction?" Glenn asked.

"I think that way. I'm pretty sure. Damn, it's hard to tell out here," Daryl said. We had started off again when we heard bells ringing in the distance. Church bells it sounded like. At the sound, everyone perked up.

"If we heard them, maybe Sophia did too. Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others."

"Or signaling they found her," Rick said.

"She could be ringing them herself."

With the new found hope we all took off running in the direction that we'd heard the bells tolling only moments ago. Bounding down a small hill a church came into view. Being one of the fastest, Glenn and I had gotten to the church first.

"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells. Rick," Shane said as the rest of the group arrived at the church.

"Sophia!" Rick shouted, wandering in. The group went to walking into the church- seeing if Sophia was hiding in there- and as soon as we did, saw 3 walkers. There was a Bride, which Daryl was making kissy faces at. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight, despite the situation. Rick had taken care of the Groom, and Shane- the priest.

I saw Daryl walk up to the statue of Jesus in the front of the church and ask the statue, "Yo, J.C., you taking requests?" I smiled at Daryl's attitude with the situation.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick. There's no steeple," Shane argued. Just as I began to look around the bells sounded again and we all dashed out the door. Glenn had made it back first.

"A timer. It's on a timer," he panted.

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit, Carol sighed.

Sighing myself, I made my way into the graveyard and pulled myself up a tree on the side of the plots.

"You part monkey or somethin'?" I heard a familiar Southern accent drawl.

"No more than you, Dixon," I called down to him.

I heard Daryl puff out a breath and saw him take a seat at the base. Jumping down I plopped down next to him. "You know," I started, "when I was really little, I loved climbing trees. My parents hated it though, they always thought I was gonna hurt myself. Anyways, I did it all the time and as I got older, it became a way to clear my head. I just loved doing it. I still do. I guess that's the good thing about this apocalypse. There may not be any people around anymore, but there are still a lot of trees."

Daryl sat there, silent for a moment when he finally spoke up. "You know, I really think you're actually crazy. You escape from the loony bin or somethin when this all went down?" I laughed and nudged Daryl with my shoulder when we saw Rick calling everyone over. Hopping up, Daryl offered me his hand-which I took- and he pulled me up. Walking over to the open green area we heard Rick explaining what was going on.

"Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge," Rick said, motioning to everyone.

"Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough," Shane added/

"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Lori asked.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you," Rick assured his wife.

"I want to stay too. I'm her friend," Carl called, looking to his mother for the answer.

Lori sighed, "just be careful, okay?"

"I will," Carl promised.

"When did you start growing up?"

"I'll be along soon enough," he responded.

"Here, take this," Rick told his wife, handing her a gun. "Remember how to use it?"

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed."

"Here, got a spare. Take it."

"Rick, would it be alright if I came with you guys? I really want to help looking for Sophia. It was partly my fault that we couldn't get to her fast enough. Please?" I asked him.

"Well, sure. I suppose we could use another set of eyes."

I turned back to Daryl and the rest of the group. Looking at Daryl I said a small good luck, he nodded and told us to be safe before they moved out heading back to the highway.

We had been walking for about 10 minutes, looking for Sophia when we stopped. I was about to ask why when I saw it. A beautiful buck,, just stabding in the clearing, having no care in the world that we were there. I smiled and turned to get a better look at the gorgeous creature.

"We should keep moving," Shane said.

"Shane," Rick whispered, pointing to the buck. Carl seemed to notice it too. He looked back at his father who merely nodded and motioned to the buck. I smiled and put my hand on Carl's shoulder, pushing him forward. Carl turned back and grabbed me by the hand, leading me with him. We took slow and careful steps as we approached the buck who still hadn't been bothered that we were there, that close to him. Carl soon though stepped o a branch, which snapped. We stood ramrod still as the buck looked straight at us but still didn't move. Realizing that the buck wasn't going to leave, I pulled Carl forward. We were within arms reach of the buck when I heard an loud crack sound through the air and saw the buck and Carl fall.

I was about to panic when I felt a sharp pain tear through my side. Looking down I saw that there was a bleeding wound in my hip. Mother of God, someone was hunting the buck. I looked over at Carl and saw that he had blood all over his chest. The bullet fragments had gone clean through the buck and had hit Carl in the chest and me in the hip. Oh shit, that's near his heart, I though

"Fuck," I grunted as the pain started to set in. Just as my vision started to blur, I heard Rick and Shane crying out.

"Oh no. No. No, no, no, no!"

A/N: OK so I couldn't help it, I really wanted Rain to get shot. Just not as bad as Carl. I also wanted there to be some sort of reunion for her and Daryl later. But anyways, next chapter will focus on Rain's healing and meeting the Greene's. Like I said last chapter, no one has reviewed so far so please review everyone! Even if it's one word! Also thank you to **tmlodes** and **linnterr** for the follows and favorites! -A


	11. Healing

Groaning from the pain, I saw a man come out of the woods looking absolutely horrified at what had happened. Good asshole, you should be, that fucking hurt.

"YOU! YOU SHOT MY SON!" I heard Rick shout. Gee thanks for your concern Rick, don't worry, I'm fine, just bleeding out over here. "Her too!" There it is, thank you.

"I-I'm sorry. I know where you can get them help but we have to go now!" Oh thank God, all I want is morphine. That would make me as happy as a clam.

"C'mon then, show us!" Shane shouted at the man while hoisting me up, throwing my arm around his shoulders and his arm around my waist. We were running now and I was attempting to keep up but the adrenaline had worn off and I could hardly walk anymore, even with the help. Shane thankfully noticed this and scooped me into his arms. "C'mon Rain, stay with me now. Don't you dare give up. That's not who you are and I know it." I groaned attempting to agree. I didn't want to but I knew that I would have to try to stay conscious for now.

"Hey, you move, dickhead! Come on, get us there! How far? How far? Another half mile, that way!" Shane was shouting at the man- who was very overweight and was having a problem keeping up. C'mon dude, I can do better than that with a bullet in my hip.

"Hershel, talk to Hershel- He'll help your boy," the fat man called to Rick. "Can you wait?" the man asked me.

"Fuck you."

"I'd take that as a reluctant yes," Shane snapped at the man. "What's your name?"

"Otis."

"Shane, and this pretty thing you shot is Rain."

"Shane, shut up and go faster," I growled at him. Shane picked up his speed and we met up with Rick at a gorgeous looking farm. There was a family standing out on the front porch. How sweet, it's like the American dream in the God damn apocalypse, I thought bitterly.

"Dad!" A pretty brunette girl called into the house.

"Was he bit?" An older man asked, stepping out of the house.

"Shot, by your man," Rick answered, heaving.

"Otis?" The older man asked, looking back to see Otis slowly crossing the yard.

"He said find Hershel. Is that you? Help me-Help my boy," Rick cried to who I assumed was Hershel.

"Get him inside. Inside!" Hershel ordered. He then began shouting orders to everyone standing around. "Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie. Painkillers, coagulates- Grab everything. Clean towels, sheets, alcohol. In here," Hershel directed us.

"Pillowcase."

"Is-is he alive?" Rick asked, shaking.

"Pillowcase, quick."

"Is-is he alive?" Rick repeated.

"Fold it- Make a pad. Put pressure on the wound. I've got a heartbeat- It's faint. I got it- Step back. Maggie, IV. We need some space. Your name?" Hershel asked, looking at Rick.

"R-Rick."

"Rick?"

"I'm-I'm-I'm Rick."

"Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? You need to give us some room. Now. Move! He's alive."

"He's still alive?" Rick asked.

"Okay. It's okay," Shane comforted me. The pain was now at full force and it was awful. It felt like someone was trying to pull my hipbone out of my body. Alright, so I can cross "get shot" off my bucket list. That wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I had to keep making stupid jibes at myself to keep from passing out. I'd lost a lot of blood and I couldn't afford losing consciousness now.

"You know his blood type?" Hershel asked.

"A-positive- s-same as mine," Rick answered.

"That's fortunate. Don't wander far- I'm gonna need you. What happened?" Hershel asked as Otis finally emerged into the room.

"I was tracking a buck. Bullet went through it. Went clean through," Otis explained. Yea, went clean through into ME asshole.

"The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life, but it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out And I'm countin' 5," Hershel told us. Yea, that's because the sixth one is in my side!

"I never saw him. Not until he was on the ground," Otis babbled to himself. "What about her?" Otis asked, pointing to me. Finally, someone cared enough to point me out. I was now holding myself up on the wall while Shane went to snap Rick back into it.

"What about her?" Hershel asked. "Oh dear," he whispered, seeming to finally notice my injury. "Was she up by the buck as well."

"She was standing next to him," Shane answered, pointing to Carl.

"Dear, can you hold on until I'm done here?" Hershel asked me.

"Huh, uh mm-hmm sure," I mumbled, fading in and out. Uh maybe not, maybe I should say something.

"Lori doesn't know?" I heard Shane ask.

"No, she- My wife doesn't know- My wife doesn't know. And Rain, Daryl doesn't know either."

Why had Rick mentioned Daryl? I suppose it was because I was the closest to him, or maybe he thought that something was going on. Was there? Daryl and I had been getting pretty close lately. Oh shut up Rain, your relationship status is not the most important thing right now. I have to let Daryl know I'm OK. I have to get back to him. I have to get to Daryl, was my last coherent thought before I fell to the ground and lost finally consciousness.

3rd person P.O.V.

"You still worrying about it?" Carol asked Lori.

"It was a gunshot," Lori responded.

"We all heard it."

"Why one- Why just one gunshot?" Lori asked.

"Maybe they took down a walker," Carol suggested.

"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane or Rain. They'd do it quietly,"  
>Lori argued. "Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?"<p>

"There's nothing we can do about it, anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes," Daryl put in.

"So, what do we do?" Lori asked.

"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway. I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Daryl tried to end the conversation with the women.

"I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel," Lori told Carol.

"I suppose you do- Thank you. The thought of her, out here by herself It's the not knowing that's killin' me. I just keep hopin' and prayin' she doesn't wind up like Amy. Oh, God! That's the worst thing I ever said," Carol said, covering her mouth and looking at Andrea.

"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth," Andrea told Carol.

"I'll tell ya what it's worth- Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'. We're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord." Jesus Christ, Daryl was sick of these people worrying. Where was Rain when he needed her. He needed someone here to keep him sane, and from snapping on these women.

Back at the farmhouse, after a near catastrophic episode with Carl, the decision was made to have someone go retrieve Lori from their camp and bring her to her sons side, while Shane and Otis had made the decision to go to the FEMA shelter to get the respirator needed for Carl's surgery.

"I'll get her," Maggie stepped in.

"Thank you so much," Rick attempted to smile at the young woman. "Wait," he called to her before she left. "Her," Rick said motioning to the room that held Rain, who was now in the healing process after Hershel removed to bullet fragment and stitched her up, "there's a man at camp that she's close with, can you please bring him back too? His name is Daryl- Daryl Dixon."

Maggie nodded to Rick and smiled at him, "I'll bring them both back," she said, smiling.

Meanwhile out with the group in the forest, things were getting old. The group was just ready to head back to their cars and sleep the long and disappointing day off.

"Where the hell are they? How much farther?" Andrea asked, groaning.

"Not much. Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies," Daryl answered.

"Too bad we're not crows," Andrea mumbled before tripping. "Oh. Oh! As the crow flies, my ass."

"Andrea?" Lori asked before the group heard an ear piercing scream from Andrea. A walker had fallen oh her and she was fighting it off. Just as the group thought they were going to lose another member, a woman on horseback hit the walker over the head with a bat, throwing it off Andrea.

"Lori? Lori Grimes? Daryl? Daryl Dixon?" the young woman asked.

"I'm Lori," Lori piped up looking confused.

"I'm Daryl," Daryl replied, walking up looking suspicious.

"Rick sent me- You've got to come now," the woman yelled.

"What?" Both Daryl and Lori asked.

"There's been an accident- Carl's been shot. So has Rain. They're both still alive but you've gotta come now. Rick needs you- Just come!" Without hesitation Lori threw herself onto the horse and Daryl scooted on right behind her.

"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?"

"Uh-huh," Glenn nodded, clearly worried.

"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox- Name's Greene- Hi-yah!" The girl shouted all at once, before kicking the horse into a gallop. Through the entire ride the only thought on Daryl's mind was Rain. Is she OK? How did that happen? Would she make it? Who shot her? Would he ever get to hear her laugh again or see her smile again?

As they rode past the gates to the farm Daryl called out, "what room is she in?"

"Second floor, third door on your right," Maggie called back.

As soon as the horse rode to the door of the house Daryl launched himself off and ran up the stairs bounding into the room that Rain was in. His heart almost stopped when he saw her. She was breathing thank God. There she was, curled up in the bed. Her blonde hair was pooled around her head and the pillow, and she wasn't wearing a shirt. Daryl felt his face heat up but he moved closer to her.

"She had a fragment in her right hip, I managed to get it out without much of a problem. She's a tough girl, she made it a long time before passing out than most people would have. Must have wanted to stay awake for some reason," a voice came from behind Daryl.

"Who are you?"

"Hershel Greene," I saved your girlfriend here.

"She's not my girlfriend, she's just my friend," Daryl mumbled.

"Ah, well excuse me," Hershel replied with a glint in his eyes. "Anyways, she'll be fine. She should be up tomorrow most likely. Although I'd prefer to wait an extra day to have her up and walking around; just to make sure she's OK. Anyways, we have a guest room if you'd like to use it."

"No, I'll stay here," Daryl mumbled.

"Alright, then I'll have Patricia bring you a blanket for tonight. I'll leave you to have your time with her." With that, Hershel left the room and Daryl looked down at Rain. She looked so weak in the bed, her skin was pale, she was sweating, her torso was covered with blood, and her hair was a mess. Daryl was furious with himself, he shouldn't have let her leave, he should have forced her to come back to camp. Then she would be with him, and safe. He couldn't believe how attached he'd gotten to this girl, it had never happened with anyone he had ever known before.

Daryl sighed and moved the chair next to her bed, taking her cold hand in his. Stroking her palm, Daryl finally figured out why he was so attached. He loved her. Somehow, in the short time he'd known her, he'd fallen in love with her. For the first time in his life, Daryl Dixon loved someone, and it terrified him. With his thoughts never ending, he eventually lulled himself to sleep; never once ceasing worrying about her.

A/N: So the confession of love has come! Now although it's come up, the actual romance is still a while off. Neither are good with relationships and neither will know what to do when the time comes. Anyways, please please please review! It helps me write better! I should have the next chapter up tomorrow -A


	12. He Actually Cares

"Ugh," I groaned, slowly coming back into consciousness. "Once, just once I'd like to wake up without being in pain. Is that so much to ask for," I grumbled to myself. Or at least what I thought was myself. I heard a small chuckle from the corner of the room and nearly jumped out of my skin. "Ah, fuck!" I shouted as a searing pain went through my side. Stupid, you just got shot. Don't move you moron.

"Careful there, Sleeping Beauty," I heard a rough Southern accent say.

I turned slowly to the side and caught sight of Daryl sitting at the edge of my bed in a small wooden chair. "Daryl!" I yelled, jumping up, despite the pain, and wrapping my arms around his neck. I hissed in pain at the sudden movement, feeling the stitches in my side stretch, but I didn't care. I was safe and so was he. I had expected Daryl to stiffen up or pull away from me like the last time, and for a second, I was right. He tensed up, but slowly his body relaxed; not all the way, but hey, it's progress. He slowly lifted his arms from his side, and to my surprise, wrapped them loosely around my upper back- avoiding the wound on my side. I had absolutely no desire to move from that position until I heard a sharp intake of air from Daryl. Immediately I realized what he had made the noise for. I tore myself away from him and put my back against the wall, looking anywhere but Daryl's eyes.

"I uh... I didn't think that you'd see them. It uh, it wasn't from self harm. I never did that- I mean I thought about it but I never did. And I mean, they're old, they don't really bother me any more," I stammered having no idea what to say.

Daryl remained silent for a while, simply staring at the ground. Just when I had lost hope that he would speak to me, he asked me quietly, "your dad?"

I slowly nodded my head and looked at the ground. "That's what I got the tattoo for. I wanted inspiration to move past him." I awkwardly turned so that Daryl could get a better view of the tattoo, and the scars.

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." Daryl read off. I could practically feel his smirk at the words. I had been about to explain that the quote was from William Shakespeare when I felt his hand lightly brush across my back. Stiffening, I felt his hand stop, and I knew he was about to pull his hand away.

"No," I mumbled, "it's OK, you can. I was just surprised." I felt his hand gradually follow the path of the scars up my back until he reached the middle. What was probably where the worst of my scars were. I felt his hand stop on one of the scars, and slowly follow it up to trace the tattoo at my right shoulder. Although I'd been in much more intimate situations, this was probably the most intimate thing I'd ever experienced. As Daryl removed his hand, I turned back to face him.

"It's OK, they don't hurt anymore. They're long healed." Daryl merely grunted and looked down at the floor. Wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible I cut into the awkward air, "so how did you get here?"

Daryl looked up at me, seemingly grateful that I'd changed the subject. "Rick sent some girl on a horse to get Lori and I. He wanted us here I guess. She just told us that the both of you had been shot and we came here with her."

"Wait, so you just got on a random woman's horse? And how does the rest of the group know where to go?! Carl got shot, it's likely that we'll be here a while! How long was I out for anyways? Oh my God, is Carl OK? Did you guys find Sophia? Is everyone else-?"

"Calm down girl, gonna give yourself a heart attack if ya keep goin. Everyone's fine. T-Dog's got a nasty infection but I told em to get to Merle's stash, got some kick ass painkillers in there. Also, the chick said Rick, your name, mine and Lori's. I figured she had to know you guys. And she had told me you had gotten shot, I had to see if you were OK. The girl told em where the farm was. I guess they'll be makin their way out here soon. Carl's fine too, as far as I've heard. Shane and that jackass had to go to some shelter, get somethin to help him breathe while Hershel takes out the bullet fragments. He already got yours out, did it while you were out. Ya been out about 16 hours or so, I'd guess. Nah, we haven't found Sophia that I know of, but I might head out there soon. Check around this area. Now did I miss anything girl?"

I couldn't help but to laugh and sigh after I'd found out that we hadn't lost anyone else. "Wait, what happened to T?" I asked, I couldn't remember anything happening to him the last time I'd seen him.

"Was when the hoard came through. He jumped up from searchin one of the cars and caught his arm on the broken door. Got a pretty nasty cut there. Was just startin to show signs of infection when I left."

"Oh..." I mumbled. "Well, I've been sitting in this bed long enough! It's time for me to officially meet the rest of the Greene family," I started, moving to swing my legs off the bed.

"Oh no you don't!" Daryl called, pushing me back down. "Hershel says that you need to rest for a day. Stay here, in bed, make sure nothin else is wrong before you start movin around."

"Ugh, great. I get to lay here bored all day," I replied, rolling my eyes and flopping down on the bed, grunting when I felt the sharp pain above my hip. Daryl laughed and went to get up when I pulled him back down to his chair. "Oh no you don't! If I have to be miserable all day, so do you!"

"It don't work that way princess. Us able folks got shit to do," he replied smirking at me.

"Asshole," I mumbled. Daryl merely laughed, but sat back down. A few minutes had gone by and we were in a comfortable silence when there was a knock on the door, and Hershel stepped in.

"Hello, glad to see you're up. Remember me?" he asked. "You took a hard fall when you passed out. I wanted to make sure you didn't have any damage to your memory or mobile skills."

"Not that I know of. Thank you Hershel. I just really wish that I could get up," I grumbled the last part.

Hershel merely laughed and smiled. "I know you do but I really need you to stay in bed for a day. I just want to make sure that everything is just fine and there are no underlying injuries I have to worry about. Now Daryl, I need to have a quick look at her. Would you mind stepping out for a bit?"

Daryl looked at me, a worried look on his face but I nodded, letting him know that it was OK to leave my side. He turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. "Alright then, lay back so I can take a look at the wound." I went to lay on my back, and Hershel prodded at the stitches making me wince a few times. Pulling me up slightly Hershel handed me a glass of water and a pill. "It should help with the pain. Go on and take it."

Swallowing the pill, I was about to tell Hershel thank you, however he beat me to getting to speak. "Now, what exactly happened here?" he asked motioning to my face. Wait, what? "It wasn't that man in here, was it?" Daryl? What? Oh, shit! He meant the bruises that Ed had left at the quarry!

"WHAT?! NO! Daryl would never do that! It was this man in our old camp, Ed. He's dead now. He was the husband of a woman that's with us. He was an abusive fuck, and he hit his wife. I stepped in after he slapped her and I managed to get a few good hits in, but lets face it, Ed was like 3 times my size and he had the upper hand with his hits."

"I didn't mean to offend you dear, I'm sure you've got yourself a good man there," Hershel replied, smiling at me.

"He uh- he's not my man," I stammered, blushing like mad.

"For now," Hershel said quietly before moving to leave.

"Hershel wait! Why do you say for now?" I asked as the older man turned to face me.

"My dear, you should have seen the mad dash the man made to get up here to you. He nearly knocked over my 2 daughters in the process. And we had offered him a bed, however he refused it. Wanted to be next to you all night and be here when you woke up. Should've seen the fury on his face when he found out it was one of my men who shot you. Good thing Otis isn't here right now, I think your friend would kill him."

I laughed, "yea sounds like Daryl. I'm sorry about your daughters. But why was he so worried?" I said the last part more to myself than Hershel but the older man answered anyways.

"My dear, you may not see it, but I do. But then again I've been around much longer."

"See what?" I asked.

"The way he looks at you. He looks at you the way that I looked at my wife," Hershel told me, walking out of the room.

There's no way. Daryl can't look at me like that. We're only friends. That's all he wants, that's all that I want. Right? I mean, would I hook up with him if I got the chance? Hell yea, I won't deny that. But seriously, I don't have feelings for him. Do I? I mean, I get the butterflies when I see him but that doesn't mean anything. Does it? Interrupting my thoughts, the door was pushed open and Daryl stepped through carrying a tray of food.

"Got ya lunch, figured you'd be hungry," he said, walking in and shutting the door. Damn it, there are those stupid butterflies again. No- it's not him, I'm just hungry. Yea, that's it.

"Thanks," I replied smiling at him. I had been hungrier than I thought I was seeing as I had shoveled all the food down in a matter of minutes. Must have been from the blood loss.

"Damn girl," Daryl laughed.

"What Dixon? You'd be hungry too if you'd just been shot," I pouted.

Daryl merely laughed and stood up, "you should get some rest, I'm gonna do a quick check of the area, see if I can find any traces of Sophia, if she made it this far."

I sighed, but I knew it was the best thing. "OK, just please be careful? We don't need another person injured," I joked, poking Daryl in the ribs. He smiled at me and nodded, walking out of the room and closing the door. Well, this is gonna be a looooong day, I thought looking out the window. With nothing better to do, and not wanting to face how I felt about Daryl, I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. Nope, that was a conversation that I was gonna avoid with myself for as long as possible.

I jerked awake as I felt someone shaking me. "What?! What is it?!" I shouted bolting up. "God damn it!" I shouted as I felt the stitches stretch.

"Need to stop wakin up like that girl," I heard Daryl snicker.

"Fuck you," I growled. Looking out the window I saw that it was now dark out. "Shit, I slept through the rest of the day," I said, surprised. I thought I'd only been asleep for a few minutes.

"Yea, I came in a few minutes ago and saw that you were still asleep. Didn't wanna wake ya up but I needed to get ya up."

"Ugh, what?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Shane just got back a while ago with the respirator thing or whatever that Carl needed. Hershel apparently is finishing up the surgery now, stitching him up. Anyways, the boy's gonna be fine. He should be up in a day or so. Thought you'd probably wanna know."

"Oh thank God," I breathed out. I couldn't imagine what would happen if Rick and Lori had lost their only child. Just then I remembered what Daryl had been doing while I was out. "Hey, did you find anything pointing to Sophia?" I asked him.

Daryl just dropped his head and sighed. "Nothin yet but I'll go out again tomorrow. Did ya wanna go?"

I was surprised, but touched that Daryl had offered to take me along. I suppose he knew that this meant a lot to me, getting Sophia back to her mother. "Thanks, I'd like that. Wait, you just said that Shane had gotten back. What about Otis?" I asked, fearing the answer. I mean, sure the man shot me but he didn't know. And no one deserved to die like that.

"Didn't make it, that's what he gets for shootin 2 people."

"Hey now, don't say that. It was an accident, he didn't mean to shoot anyone. Besides, he couldn't even see us."

"Yea well, they're havin a funeral for him tomorrow," Daryl grunted.

"Hmm," I nodded. "Are you OK? You seem kinda out there," I asked.

"Somethin seems wrong with the whole situation," Daryl explained. I nodded at him to continue. "Shane said that Otis sacrificed himself to the walkers so that he could get back to the farm, and get the respirator to Carl. Somethin about both of them not being able to make it. But why would Otis do that? Sure he shot Carl but why sacrifice himself? He didn't even know Carl."

I nodded and turned to look at Daryl, "so what do you think happened? Shane sacrificed Otis himself?" Daryl merely nodded at me. "Well do you have any real reason to think that?" It made sense to me but I had to see if there was anything that was better then just an assumption.

"When Shane got back he asked for a shower. Comes out and he's bald. Wouldn't have been weird if I hadn't seen the tiny bald spot on the back of his head where it looked like someone had ripped out a patch of hair. I was thinkin that the 2 got in a fist fight. Otis grabbed onto Shane's hair and Shane tore away from him ripping out the hair. Shaved his head to get rid of the evidence."

I nodded at the story, it all made sense to me. "So what're you gonna do?"

"Nothin, ain't my problem," Daryl responded.

I nodded and slunk into bed, yawning. "Damn, how am I still tired? I've been asleep all day," I pouted.

Daryl merely chuckled and said "ya just got shot girl. Ya need rest, go to sleep. It's late anyways, probably the middle of the night."

"And are you gonna sleep in here again or actually find a bed tonight?" I smirked at Daryl.

"Think I'll stick with ya one more night. I ain't used to a bed anymore and this chair is actually kinda comfy," Daryl answered, slinking down into the chair.

I laughed but nodded anyways, "fine but take a damn blanket, that thing is almost nothing," I told Daryl motioning to the thin blanket draped over him. He went to argue me but I immediately cut him off, "no Daryl, that blanket is tiny and I don't want you to be freezing all night. If you're gonna stay with me, take it. I have like 6 blankets anyways and it's getting kinda hot under here." I pulled one of the larger blankets I had off of me and tossed it at Daryl, who easily caught it.

Although he grumbled at me for a while, he took the blanket and spread it over himself, curling into the chair, ready to go to sleep. Just before he could, I leaned over to him and whispered "goodnight Daryl," and closed my eyes.

Just as I was finally drifting off I heard the soft whisper to my right, "goodnight Rain."

A/N: OK so obviously a lot of bonding time here between Rain and Daryl. Seeing any similarities? Anyways, most of this episode takes place with other story lines so I figured why not make this one focused on their budding relationship? Also you guys, this story still has ZERO comments. Please help me out! And just wanted to thank **speedy964** for the favorites and follows and **MarianaPg25** and **sherrymerry** for the follows! Next chapter should be up tomorrow -A


	13. The Cherokee Rose

Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head and slowly sat up. Smiling, I looked over at Daryl who looked to be waking up himself. "Good morning, Prince Charming," I smirked at him. Daryl merely rolled his eyes and pushed the blankets off of him, standing up and walking over to the window.

"Looks, like everyone's here," he said, looking over the yard.

"Really?" I asked surprised, jumping up from bed and limping slightly over to the window. "C'mon, we should go say hi." Daryl and I left the room walking down the hallway. I had been doing fine until- "shit, stairs."

Daryl laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist. "Here, take em one at a time," he said, helping me down the stairs, keeping my weight on him as we made our way down the stairs, through the living room, and down the porch to the rest of the group. Just as we made it to the yard Daryl let go of me and I heard the tail end of the groups conversation.

"How is he?" I heard Carol ask Lori and Rick. They must have been talking about Carl's recovery. Hey, what about me people? I got shot too ya know.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people. And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him," Lori replied, smiling.

"Thank God. We were so worried. How'd it happen?" Carol asked.

"Hunting accident. That's all. Just a stupid accident," Rick replied to her, sighing.

Just then, the rest of the group seemed to see that I was up and about. Smiling, the group ran over to myself and Daryl, Glenn and T-Dog pulling me into bear hugs. "We were so worried about you Rain!" Glenn yelled.

I smiled and patted Glenn on the back. "Eh, I was OK, just a lot of blood loss. I got 1 fragment in the hip," I told the group, raising my shirt showing off the stitched wound. "Hey, it's a kinda cool scar. If the world ever gets back to normal I can say it was a battle scar," I joked winking at Dale, who had come up to hug me. "It's Carl that I was more worried about though, I'm happy to hear that he'll pull through," I told Rick and Lori, smiling at the couple.

"Thank you Rain," I'm sorry that we didn't check to see if you were OK, but Hershel said that you were doing fine. That you just needed rest," Rick explained to me, looking slightly guilty.

"Don't be sorry Rick, you had a son to take care of. I understand that you had something more important," I smiled at Rick who pulled me in, to give me a hug. After that, Lori and Carol also came up to hug me, both giving me well wishes.

"I hate to interrupt your reunion, but we are about to have a service for Ed, if you'd all mind attending?" Hershel asked, calling to us from the house. Moving to the huge oak tree in the yard, we watched quietly as the family came out and the service began; throughout all of the service, we all placed rocks on a pile as a tribute to Otis.

Hershel read a Bible verse, as we all looked at the ground, "Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in Grace. Shane, will you speak for Otis?" Hershel turned to look at Shane who lowered his head.

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

It was just then that Otis' wife, Patricia spoke up, looking to Shane. "You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning," Patricia pleaded to Shane, tears building in her eyes.

"Okay. We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. "We've got to save the boy." See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. "Run," he said. He said, "I'll take the rear. I'll cover you. And when I looked back If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." It had been a convincing speech but I'd seen the guilt in his eyes throughout the entire thing. I looked over at Daryl who nodded at me, telling me that he was thinking the same thing.

Just like that, the service ended and the entire Greene family, besides Hershel and his older daughter Maggie, went into the house once more. Hershel motioned for our group to follow him over to where our cars where. Laying out a map that he had, he turned to Rick. "How long has this girl been lost?"

"This'll be day three," Rick answered.

"County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations," Hershel told us, unfolding the map.

"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams," Rick said smiling at the older man.

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle. Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody," Hershel told Rick.

"Guess it's just me. I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there," Daryl said.

"Me too, as long as there aren't any stairs I'll be OK. I can head out with Daryl," I cut in, wanting to be able to do my part.

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back," Shane offered.

"All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right. That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them," Rick said.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here-" Shane started before Rick cut him off.

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that. First things first: Set camp, find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that," Shane said the one thing that no one else had wanted to.

"You do what has to be done," Rick said solemnly.

"And her mother? What do you tell her?"

"The truth."

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site," Shane said, changing the subject. Not wanting to hunt Shane down later, I handed him my Beretta, sighing as he took it. Oh well, I had plenty of other weapons to use in the meantime.

"I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience. Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun," Rick said, looking to Hershel. The older man nodded his consent. "Thank you."

"That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" he asked us.

"Just what you've seen," Rick told him.

"We're running short already," Hershel sighed.

"I should make a run into town," Maggie spoke up.

"Not the place Shane went?" Rick asked, referring to the FEMA shelter that Shane and Otis had gone to for the respirator.

"No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before," Maggie assured Rick.

"See our man there in the baseball cap? That's Glenn, our go-to-town expert. I'd ask him along just to be cautious."

Maggie nodded and went to go talk to Glenn. As Maggie left the group, everyone else went to set up camp and continue on their chores for the day. I walked over to my pile and picked up the tent that had once belonged to Merle- Daryl had given it to me on the ride back from the CDC. Pitching my tent as fast as I could, I looked up and noticed that I was actually relatively distanced form the rest of the group. It didn't bother me though, I wanted my space. As much as I liked my group, I didn't always like being near them; there was just to much drama. I opened up the flap on my tent and rolled out my sleeping bag and threw my bags in the corner. Slinging my bow over my shoulder and sheathing my knives I turned to leave the tent. Walking back out I looked over to see Daryl coming over to me, I also noticed that he too had pitched his tent away from the rest of the group. I was actually pretty close to where he was set up.

"You ready to go?" He asked me. I nodded and started off to the wood line with him when I heard Rick calling out. I turned to see him running over to us.

"Daryl. Rain. You okay out there on your own?" Rick asked us looking concerned.

"I'm better on my own. We'll be back before dark," Daryl told Rick.

"Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now."

"You got a point or are we just chatting?" Daryl snapped.

"My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything." I looked at Rick surprised, did he think that Daryl didn't care about finding Sophia? Hell, besides Carol and myself, I think Daryl cared the most.

"My other plans fell through," Daryl snapped and I knew immediately he meant Merle.

"We could give you more space," Rick suggested.

"Set up over by the barn," Daryl muttered.

"No, no need for that. Better you stay close to the house," Rick tried to reason with him. Daryl however, merely scoffed and took off for the woods. I turned back to Rick and gave him an apologetic smile. He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a small smile back. With that, I turned and ran off after Daryl.

"Hey, what was that about? He was only trying to help," I told Daryl catching up to him.

"Don't need his damn help," Daryl snapped at me. I flinched slightly and turned to walk straight. We'd been walking in silence for about 15 minutes when I turned to look at Daryl.

"So do you really think we have a shot at finding her?"

"Hell yea I do," he replied.

"She is only 12 though," I mumbled, sighing.

"Hell, I was younger than her when I got lost in the woods."

"What?" I asked. I never knew that Daryl had gotten lost in the woods.

"Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak," he told me. I had to bite back a laugh at the poison oak part, I could only imagine the rash that that had left.

"So your family found you?" I asked.

"My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched something awful."

I couldn't hold it in any more. I burst out laughing and Daryl shoved me. I already had poor balance from laughing so hard and when Daryl shoved me, I fell into the grass. "That's karma for laughing at my itchy ass."

I smiled but took Daryl's hand to help me back up. "Hey Daryl, look at that," I told him spotting a decrepit farmhouse a few yards off covered by trees. "Think Sophia could be in there?"

"Only one way to find out," he mumbled, heading off for the farmhouse with me in tow.

We slowly made our way into the house, Daryl pulling off his crossbow, me pulling of my bow, nocking an arrow. Daryl went up to the door and nudged it open, slowly moving into the dark house. We made our way through the house, checking all the rooms to make sure that there were no walkers. Seeing that the house was clear, we began a search for any signs of Sophia. I moved ff into the living room when I heard Daryl call out my name softly.

I ran into the kitchen and asked what it was. "Check it out," Daryl said, motioning to a small cupboard that looked as though someone had recently hidden in there. "Think she might have spent a night here, hidden in here."

"She would be just about the right size," I muttered thinking it over. "I'm gonna check the front, see if there's anything else that would let us know that she was here."

"Alright, I'll check out back."

I nodded and went to the back, but to my disappointment, saw nothing. Sighing, I went to the back of the house and went to the backyard. Looking around I saw Daryl leaning down in front of a patch of flowers. I made my way over to Daryl and leaned down next to him. "Those are pretty flowers," I whispered quietly.

"It's a Cherokee Rose," he told me.

"What?" I asked him.

"A Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the trail of tears the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for Carol's little girl."

"That's beautiful Daryl, Carol would love one of those. You should give her one." I sat still for a few minutes and then prodded at him, "who woulda thought that tough old Daryl had a soft spot for flowers?" I told him, smirking.

"Shut up," he growled. I laughed and pulled out one of my throwing knives cutting the stem to the flower.

"Throwing knife?" Daryl asked me.

"Yep, my dad gave them to me before- well, you know. Anyways, he loved weapons, all sorts, I guess that's where I get it from. When I was younger he bought me this set and taught me how to use them. I've always kept them around, they were the last real present he ever gave to me."

Daryl nodded and looked to the ground. After a minute he looked up at me and smirked, "you good with em?"

I smirked back, "I like to think so."

"Show me," he challenged. I laughed and jumped up, making my way over to the house. Pulling out my pocket knife, I carved a small circle into the houses side. Stepping back I turned to Daryl and smirked. ''

"Now you make that and I'll be impressed," he teased.

I laughed and pulled all the lessons on how to throw the knives out of the back of my mind. Throw with the lightest end of the blade- which was the handle, wrap 4 fingers around the handle keeping the thumb over the top, keep my wrist straight because I was at a long range. Take all of my weight and put it on my dominant leg, which should be behind me and raising the knife so that it was perpendicular to the ground and bent at the elbow so the blade was next to my head. Shifting my weight from my dominant to non-dominant hand, I swung downward in a straight line and allowed the blade to slip from my grip and soar toward the target.

After following through, I looked at the target and smirked. The blade had stuck in the target, just about an inch to the right of the dead center. "So?"

"Damn girl, not bad."

I smiled and yanked my knife out of the wood, sheathing it and making my way back over to Daryl. "Sun's goin down, we should head back now," Daryl told me. I nodded and we headed back to the camp in silence. Breaking out of the wood line we walked over to the campfire where a small dinner was going on.

The 2 of us took our seats and got plates from Carol, exchanging small talk and a brief explanation of what we'd found. As we finished our food however, everyone cleaned their plates and went off to bed. It had apparently been a long day for everyone. There was apparently a walker in one of the wells that the group had had to get out. And Maggie was also attacked at the pharmacy. Luckily everyone had been OK.

Getting up from my space and walking over to my tent, while Daryl gave Carol the Cherokee Rose he'd found, I saw a figure out in the distance. As I got closer, I heard sniffling and the figure told me that it was- Lori? What was she doing out here? And crying?

"Hey Lori? It's Rain, are you OK?" I heard Lori shuffle around and was surprised when she threw her arms around me. I was shocked, however I hugged her back. "Hey, it's OK, what happened?"

Lori sniffled for a while but eventually met my eyes. "Rain... I don't know how it happened, how I was so stupid" she sobbed. I had been about to ask what she had meant when she choked out, "I'm pregnant."

"Oh God..."

A/N: And the plot thickens! So I think I'd like to have a little bonding with Lori and Rain over the pregnancy. Also, I hope you guys liked the knife throwing scene! I actually learned how to throw them when I was younger and that's how I was always taught. Of course I'd like to thank **Purple Dragon Ranger, Carlisles gurl, Kyokkou, **and **lewis7** for their favorites and follows. And a HUGE thank you to **Kyokkou** who was my first reviewer and gave me such a fantastic one! Anyways, please review! -A


	14. Hunting

I hadn't slept at all last night, mostly I'd just comforted Lori and then finally said goodnight when she'd cried herself out. What would Lori do? Would she keep it? She had told me that she had Glenn get Plan B pills just in case. But would she have the heart to do it? And whose was it- Shane's or Rick's? We may not ever know. Rolling my eyes at myself, I crawled out of my tent and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw that Daryl was standing there. "Good God, you need to stop doing that," I sighed.

Daryl merely laughed at me and said, "c'mon princess, it's late. Almost lunch time."

"What?!" I shrieked, launching myself out of the tent and dragging Daryl to the main fire pit by the Winnebago. Dale turned to me and handed me a small nutrition bar.

"Sorry dear, but you missed the main breakfast."

"That's OK, this'll do," I told Dale, scarfing the bar down.

"I had an idea I wanted to run by you," Carol said, looking over at Lori.

"What's that?"

"That big kitchen of theirs got me thinking. I wouldn't mind cooking in a real kitchen again. Maybe we all pitch in and cook dinner for Hershel and his family tonight. Kind of looking for things to keep my mind occupied."

"After everything they've done for us, seems like the least we could do."

"You mind extending the invitation? Would just feel more right coming from you."

"How so?" Lori asked. I was curious to hear that explanation as well.

"You're Rick's wife. It sort of makes you our unofficial first lady," Carol explained.

I rolled my eyes but was startled when Lori called out to me, "huh?"

"Would you mind maybe helping us out with dinner?" Carol asked.

"Uh, I wouldn't mind at all but I'm pretty sure you don't want to poison them. Sorry but I'm not much of a cook. Over the last 6 years I've been living off take out and frozen foods." The women both laughed and nodded, freeing me from any kitchen duties.

"Morning, guys. Let's get going," Rick said as we all gathered round. "We've got a lot of ground to cover. All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Rain found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

"I'd like to help. I know the area pretty well and stuff," one of Hershel's men, Jimmy I thought, said stepping forward.

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked.

"Yeah yeah. He said I should ask you." Liar. But hey, it's not my place to call the kid out.

"All right then. Thanks," Rick said, buying into his lie.

"Nothing about what Daryl and Rain found screams Sophia to me. Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse," Shane said. I glared at him and was about to snap at him when Daryl cut in.

"Anybody includes her, right? Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high," Daryl said, motioning to just above his hip. Where Sophia stood compared to him.

"It's a good lead. Maybe we'll pick up her trail again," Rick said hopefully.

"No maybe about it. I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her," Daryl said with confidence.

"Good idea."

"I'll go with you," I spoke up, looking at Daryl.

"Actually Rain, I was going to ask. We're running low on fresh meat. For the dinner and just for meals in general. I hate to ask, but do you think you could go hunting today? I would ask Daryl but he's the better tracker and is more likely to find Sophia. You, being our only other hunter, were our best option. I'm sorry but we really need it," Lori asked me, looking guilty.

I didn't like the thought of having Daryl go out alone, but we needed the food so I nodded. "Sure, I should be back in a few hours then. No promises on what I catch though, I haven't seen many animals out around here."

"No problem Rain, thank you," Rick smiled at me.

"Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too," Dale said looking at Daryl with a smile.

"Chupacabra?" I asked.

"You never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." I smiled at Daryl, knowing it was something that he would say. Jimmy on the other hand, full out laughed.

"What are you braying at, jackass?" Daryl asked, glaring at the kid. I swear, I've never seen the blood drain from one person's face so fast.

"You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Jimmy asked.

"Do you believe dead people walking around?" Daryl snapped.

"Hey hey. Ever fire one before?" Rick asked Jimmy, stopping him as the kid went for one of the hand guns laying on the hood of the car we were gathered around.

"Well, if I'm going out, I want one," Jimmy told Rick.

"Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees," Daryl muttered. I couldn't help but smile at the small comment.

"Why don't you come train tomorrow? If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor. For now he can come with us," Shane asked Jimmy.

"He's yours to babysit then," Daryl growled before stalking off.

With that we all split up and I followed Daryl out to the barn. I picked up speed to meet him at the doors of the barn, watching him start to saddle up one of the horses. "Wish I could go out there with you, I wanna help look for Sophia, not hunt for food which we have."

"Gonna need more food for when she's back," Daryl grunted, throwing the saddle onto the horses back.

"I guess," I mumbled. "Hey Daryl?" He turned to face me and I walked up, giving him a hug. Like I'd expected, he tensed up, but slowly relaxed putting an arm around my upper back. "Please be careful," I begged him, stepping away.

He gave me a surprised look, but smirked at me. "Me be careful? I ain't the one who got shot," he said, pulling himself up into the saddle.

"Oh shut it Dixon." Daryl laughed and gave the horse a small kick, racing off into the woods. I sighed but went to the wood line, slowly disappearing from eye shot of the farm.

I immediately pulled my bow from my shoulders and pulled out an arrow, nocking it for when I saw something. Walking forwards for a few minutes, I heard the first rustle. Aiming my bow at the bush that had rustled I prepared for whatever it was. With lightning speed, a rabbit shot out from the bushes and I had to release almost blindly in order to hit it. I cringed when I realized that I had hit the rabbit, but in the leg. The poor thing must be in so much pain. Walking up to the rabbit, I apologized to it before bringing my knife up to its throat, and slicing. At least I had put the thing out if its misery. Strapping on the rabbit to my belt, I kept walking.

Nocking a new arrow, I moved forward once more. For hours I walked and hit small animal after small animal. I didn't have anything big but I did have plenty of rabbits, squirrels, and birds. Making my way back to camp I finally allowed my mind to wander- exactly where I didn't want it to. Daryl.

What did I think of him? I definitely liked him. That wasn't up for debate, but how much did I? It wasn't really like how it was with my past relationships. I mean I had always liked the guys I was with but I was never very emotional with them. My relationships had almost always been physical. Not saying that I was whoring around all the time but hey, I wasn't the most virtuous person around. I guess I can blame it on the "daddy issues." Nah, I wasn't one of those girls, it was jsut easier to blame him. But no- it was my tendency to emotionally seperate myself from people. But, to my surprise, I was very connected with my group.

But Daryl? What was I with him? I knew that I got the butterflies with him, and he occupied my thoughts a lot of the time, I get bubbly and grossly giggly with him, and I smile a lot more and- oh my God. I knew it now. I loved him. I loved Daryl Dixon. But how did that happen? I wasn't planning on EVER falling in love with anyone. No! He doesn't feel the same way. I just have to lose the feelings. Yea, that'll work. I'll just-

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the farmiliar snarling of a walker. Turning to the sound ready to fire an arrow, I saw that it wasn't one. It was 4. "Oh shit," I mumbled before scrambling to fire the first arrow. It hit the closest walker, who dropped right in front of me. I was tempted to make a mad dash for the farm but I couldn't drag these things back there. Stumbling back, I managed to pull out another arrow and shoot down the second one, however, before I could get the third one, it reached me. The horrid creature barreled into me and knocked me on my ass. Keeping my bow in front of it's head, I kept it's jaws from closing on me. Struggling to keep the walker away from me, I let out a small whimper as the other fell next to me. Struggling to keep the walker on top of me with one hand and reach my knife with the other arm, I felt a small cry escape my lips. Finally managing to pull my knife free I jammed it into the walkers head, unfortunately cutting myself as I brought it up past my leg. Crying out, I ripped the knife out of the walkers head and thrust it into the one on top of me.

Panting, I threw the walker off of me and shouldered my bow. Struggling to pull myself up, I realized that the cut on my leg was deeper than I had originally thought. Sighing, I ripped off the bottom half of my shirt, showing off the belly button ring I had. Wrapping it around my thigh where I had cut myself, I tightened the wrap and began my limp back to camp, resisting the urge to cry out when I put my weight on the injured leg.

Meanwhile with Daryl

Everything had been going fine. I'd even found the girls damn doll. Then that damn horse had bucked me off. I swear, if I get that thing back, imma cook it. Horse meat is good. Now, with an arrow in my side laying at the bottom of the ravine, I had no idea what to do. I was fading in and out of consciousness and I didn't have the energy to make it up the hill yet. Damn, I realized, that had been a big ass fall.

Seeing a figure stalking over to me I squinted my eyes to get a better look. "Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy? You could bind your wound better."

"Merle," I said in genuine surprise. How had he found me?

"What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?" Classic Merle for ya.

"A shitty day, bro."

"Like me to get your pillow? - Maybe rub your feet?" Asshole, I'd like to see you down here with an arrow in your side.

"Screw you."

"Huh-uh. You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get? Look at you. Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, brother. And for what?"

"A girl. They lost a little girl," I said, referring to Sophia.

"So you got a thing for little girls now?" Merle taunted.

"Shut up."

"'Cause I noticed you ain't out looking for old Merle no more."

"Tried like hell to find you, bro."

"Like hell you did. You split, man. Lit out first chance you got. You lit out."

"All you had to do was wait. We went back for you. Rick and I, we did right by you."

"This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking about here? You his bitch now?" That was where my blood started to boil.

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

"You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers and democrats. You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? I got a little news for you, son. One day they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit."

No, not her.

"Hey. They ain't your kin, your blood. And that little bitch don't give a shit about you. She sure as hell don't love you either. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd got back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me, little brother. Nobody ever will. Come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in. Let's go."

I was about to yell at Merle to knock it off and stop shaking my foot when I realized that it was a walker that was chewing on it. Kicking the walker as hard as I could I scrambled back and picked up a large tree branch near me. Swinging the branch back I hit the fucker one, two, three times until it's head was mush. I looked up panting and saw a second walker headed for me.

"Shit," I muttered. With no idea of what else to do, I gritted my teeth together and ripped the arrow out of my side. Waiting for the walker to reach me, I raised the arrow and drove it into the bastards head. I grunted from the pain if the opened wound. Taking Merle's advice, I tore the sleeves of my shirt off and wrapped them around my torso- giving myself a makeshift tourniquet. Leaning over to the walkers I had taken down, I pulled out my knife and cut off their ears, stringing them on a piece of string. I could tell that walkers moved primarily on scent. If I smelled like one of them, then they might think that I was one. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to fight off any more walkers if they happened to stumble by.

"Son of a bitch was right," I growled. Putting all of my strength into my arms, I gritted my teeth once more and attempted to pull myself up the side of the cliff. I had made it about halfway up when I lost my grip and went tumbling back down, painfully. I huffed, and laid there, trying to pull myself back together.

"What's the matter, Darylina? That all you got in you? Throw away that purse and climb," Merle taunted, coming back into my view.

"I liked it better when you was missing."

"Come on, don't be like that. I'm on your side."

"Yeah? Since when?" I asked, pulling myself up and beginning the climb to the top again. I had to get to Rain. I made her a promise that I'd be back. I have to get back to her.

"Hell, since the day you were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass."

"You never took care of me. You talk a big game but you was never there. Hell, you ain't here now. Guess some things never change."

"Well, I'll tell you what I'm as real as your chupacabra."

"I know what I saw," I grunted, I know that I had seen that thing that day.

"And I'm sure them shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it, right?"

"You'd best shut the hell up."

"Or what? You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me? Well, come on and do it then, if you think you're man enough. Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son. You know, maybe if you don't make it to the top, I'll give that little girl of yours a right pounding, show her how a real man does it. You know what else? If I were you I'd take a pause for the cause, brother. 'Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top. Come on. Come on, little brother.

Infuriated, I screamed, finally pushing myself over the top of the ledge. Jumping up ready to kill Merle, I jumped around, but he was nowhere in sight. I guess he at least gave me the motivation I needed to get to the top. Now, I need to get to Rain. With that, I started off back to the farm, and back to her.

Back at Camp

I grunted as I finally made my way back into camp. I had just broken the wood line when I saw my group seated around the Winnebago. With Rick in immediate eyesight, I called out to him, "RICK, help!" With their heads whipping around to see me, I dropped in the grass and waited for them to get me.

"Oh my God, Rain! What happened?! Get her some water!" Rick called as he picked me up, carrying me back to camp.

"Another damn accident. I was lost in thought headed back to camp, when 4 walkers surprised me. Killed the first 2 easy, but the third one fell on me and the other crawled over to me. Had my bow above me fending the one on top of me off and I pulled out my knife to kill the last. When I did, it caught my leg pretty bad," I explained, gulping down the water Shane had given me when we made it back to the fire.

Rick had sat me down when a thought popped into my head. "Daryl, where is he?"

"He's not back yet Rain, but don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon," Rick reassured me.

Not fully convinced, I nodded anyways and handed Lori my bag and belt of catches. She smiled at me and leaned down in front of me. "I'm so sorry Rain, I would have never sent you had I known that that would happen."

"Don't worry about it Lori, you didn't know and it was my fault. Now go get started on dinner with Carol," I smiled and recieved a small smile back. Lori stood up, giving her husband a kiss and disappeared into the house. I was just about to ask Rick when the dinner was going to be done when I heard Andrea shout from the top of the RV.

"Walker. Walker!"

"Just the one?" Rick asked.

"I bet I can nail it from here," Andrea said, overconfident.

"No no, Andrea. Put the gun down. You'd best let us handle this," Shane stated, heading for the walker. Myself, Rick Glenn and T-Dog followed.

"Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers," Rick called from behind.

"What for, man? We got it covered."

" Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked. Oh my God, it was. He was covered in blood and dirt, looked badly injured, and was limping. Please God, don't let him be a walker.

"That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" I sighed, knowing that he was at least alive. I had been about to run over to him when a gun shot rang out and Daryl dropped to the ground.

"No! No! No!" Rick shouted.

"Rick!"

"DARYL! You fucking idiot!" I shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Andrea.

"What on earth's going on out here?" Hershel yelled from his house, standing on the porch looking out at the scene.

"I was kidding," Daryl moaned being picked up and dragged by Rick and Shane. Oh thank God, her aim was so shitty, she had just grazed his temple.

"Come on," Rick grunted.

"Oh my God. Oh my God, is he dead?" Andrea cried, running up to the group of us.

"Unconscious. You just grazed him," Rick explained.

"He may not be dead, but you will be!" I screeched, reeling at Andrea and landing a strong hit on her left cheek. Moving back as she stumbled, I launched all of my weight on her and knocker her to the ground. Taking hit after hit on Andrea, I had her arms pinned with my legs and feet. She, however, was more flexible than I thought. She brought her knee into my back and I jumped hissing at the pain. With my weight no longer fully on her she pulled back and scratched me across the neck and my chest. Hissing at the sharp pain, I reeled my arm back and brought it down on her nose. Hearing the satisfying crunch, I smirked, knowing that I had at least dislocated it.

"Alright, knock it off!" I heard Rick call as he pulled me off of Andrea and threw me over to Glenn. Rick then helped Andrea up and handed her over to Shane. She definitely didn't look too good. She looked on the verge of unconsciousness. "Come one you, we need to get Daryl to Hershel. You and Andrea too."

"But look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears," Glenn asked.

"Let's keep that to ourselves," Rick said, tearing the ears from around Daryl's neck.

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog asked, holding up Sophia's doll that Morales' daughter had given to her.

A/N: Sorry to any Andrea fans but I gotta say, I'm not a fan so I couldn't resist the urge to have Rain beat her up. Thank you as always for the follow from **JayJayNay**. Anyways, not much to say here so please review! Next chapter should be up tomorrow -A


	15. The Barn

I had been sitting outside of Daryl's room for about an hour now, refusing to move. Apparently Daryl was out for now, and Hershel was stitching him up. Maggie had come by offering to take me into another room and stitch me up, but I had refused, not wanting to leave, just in case. Maggie had come back a few minutes later with a first aid kit and plopped down in front of me. Silently, she took out the needle and thread. Putting the needle to my skin, I cringed.

"Sorry, but it has to get closed up and rinsed out to prevent infection," she told me. I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut when I felt the needle pierce my skin. "So, you really must not want to leave your boyfriend, huh?"

"He's not my boyfriend," I mumbled. "We're friends."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You 2 just seem awful close and I thought that maybe you were together. Well, even if not, he seems to really care about you. Maybe something will eventually come of the friendship." Tying off the string and putting some antiseptic on it, Maggie patted my knee and stood up, leaving.

I sat, staring at the other end of the hallway when the door opened up and Hershel said, "let me go get the rest of your group, he's slowly waking up." Dashing into the room, I gasped at the sight of Daryl. He was half conscious, bandaged, and covered in blood. Sighing I moved over to the side of the bed and took the seat left in the corner. The seat that he had been in when I'd gotten shot. I looked over and noticed that Daryl's eyed were finally open.

He smiled at me and said, "hey there princess."

I smiled back and walked over to the edge of the bed. Just as I was about to respond, Rick, Shane, T-Dog, and Hershel came back into the room, asking about the doll that Daryl had found.

"I found it washed up on the creek bed right there."

"She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere. Cuts the grid almost in half," Shane replied.

"Yeah, you're welcome," Daryl snapped, sarcastically.

"How's he looking?" Rick asked Hershel.

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly. Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel asked. I couldn't help but glare at the older man for his insensitivity to Daryl's situation.

"Yeah, the one who almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country," Daryl replied. I couldn't help but to snort at his answer. Daryl always had the best way of putting things.

"We call that one Nelly, as in 'Nervous Nelly'. I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask," Hershel told Daryl, smirking. Daryl merely stuttered for a minute before Hershel asked everyone out, to let Daryl rest. I however, stayed behind, waiting for the door to close.

"So you'll be safe huh?" I asked him.

"Don't start that with me girly, you got a nasty looking cut on your leg," Daryl said, motioning to the knife wound.

I glared at Daryl, but sighed, knowing that he was right. "Now what the hell happened with Andrea? Heard Hershel talkin about it when I came to."

"I uh... I attacked her. For uh, shooting you. Broke her nose I think," I said shyly, looking at the floor. Daryl merely barked out a laugh and nodded.

"That's my girl," he laughed, looking at me. I looked down and blushed, partially from the compliment and partially from the fact that I had finally noticed that Daryl wasn't wearing a shirt. Not that I could see anything, he had the sheet wrapped up around his shoulders. Smiling at Daryl I went to sit down on the chair when I heard a knock at the door. Hershel's youngest daughter- Beth I thought it was- stepped in and quietly told me that it was time for dinner.

"I'll bring you something up," I told Daryl. He nodded and I turned, leaving the room.

Turned out the dinner was incredibly awkward. Although it was good, I would have preferred to eat in solitude. Lucky Daryl, he doesn't have to sit through this. To my surprise though, Glenn finally spoke up and broke the awkward silence.

"Does anybody know how to play guitar? Dale found a cool one. Somebody's got to know how to play."

"Otis did," Patricia said solemnly.

"Yes, and he was very good too," Hershel added.

Not being able to take the silence anymore I pushed out of my chair, picked up my plate, and left to the kitchen. I had just finished cleaning my plate and preparing one for Daryl when Carol walked into the kitchen. "Couldn't take it either?" I asked her.

"Oh well, I actually came to make Daryl a plate, but it seems like you've got it handled," she said smiling at me.

"Carol wait. I think Daryl would like it. I'll head up there with you." She smiled and allowed me to lead the way. Walking into Daryl's room Carol smiled at Daryl, who hiked the sheet up around himself. There has to be some reason he doesn't want people to see them. And it's not body issues.

"How are you feeling?" Carol asked.

"As good as I look," Daryl said.

"I brought you some dinner. You must be starving," Carol said as she put the tray onto Daryl's lap.

"Watch out, I got stitches." You idiot, I think she knew that, I thought, rolling my eyes at him.

"You need to know something. You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life." How sad, how could a man treat his daughter or wife like that?

"I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done," Daryl said, seemingly embarrassed. That's the point you idiot.

"I know. You're every bit as good as them. Every bit," Carol leaned down giving Daryl a kiss on the forehead and I laughed at how much he shrunk away from her. He's like a kid getting a kiss from his mother. Carol smiled at me and left the room, closing the door.

"So how was dinner?" Daryl asked as I pulled the chair up next to his bed, folding the blanket over myself.

"Awful," I snorted. Daryl gave me an odd look and I explained it. "it was just so awkward, no one was talking and when they did, it was about Otis. Lucky you got to stay up here." Daryl laughed and nodded at me. "So how's being shot feel?" I asked Daryl.

"Very funny, hurts like hell."

"Oh you big baby, I actually got shot, you just got grazed," I said teasing Daryl.

"Well, I got bucked off a damn horse, rolled down a hill, got impaled by an arrow, killed a walker with a stick, ripped out the arrow and killed another one, climbed back up the hill, fell back down, and got grazed by a bullet in the temple. Your turn," he looked at me.

"OK fine, you win," I laughed. The rest of the night went just like that. Me teasing Daryl and him teasing me back. We must've been up for hours doing that before I eventually fell asleep, resting half on the bed.

The next morning I yawned and stretched, climbing out of the chair and looking at the bed, only to see that Daryl was no longer there. Walking out of the house and down the yard, I saw that he was almost to his tent. "Really Daryl, I woulda helped you out here."

"I don't need help. Just wanted to get outta that damn house and thought I'd let you sleep." We made our way into his tent and I helped him lay down on his bed. I was about to respond when I heard movement outside of the tent.

"Hey," Andrea interrupted, staying on the outside of the tent and tossing a book she had at Daryl. "This is not that great, but-"

"What, no pictures?" Daryl asked flipping through the book.

"I'm so sorry. I feel like shit," Andrea said. Good. I almost laughed at Andrea. Her nose was slightly crooked, looked like no one had reset it yet. She had 2 dark black eyes- similar to the ones Ed had given me. Not to mention the bruises that littered her face and her swollen cheeks. I had gotten off easy with the 3 bright red nail marks that went down my neck and chest.

"Yeah, you and me both."

"I don't expect you to forgive me, but if there's anything I can do-"

"You were trying to protect the group. We're good." He may forgive you, but that doesn't mean I do. Just as Andrea was walking out of the tent Daryl called to her. "But hey, shoot me again, and you'd best pray I'm dead." Andrea smiled and slowly walked away from the tent.

"So ya gonna keep me company girl?" Daryl asked me.

I smirked and looked at him sideways, while moving to the exit of the tent, "you know I would, but us able bodied folks got shit to do." I laughed and started out the door when I heard Daryl mumble something that sounded like you fucker. I turned back to him and said, "I'll come back later, bring you some dinner."

Daryl nodded and I left the tent. I looked around for everyone and realized that they must have all already left for gun training. Sighing, I saw Dale working on the Winnebago and I went over to see if he needed any help. "Hey Dale, mind some company?"

Dale turned to me and smiled, "not at all dear, I was just checking the engine."

Smiling I stood over Dale and watched him work, listening to things that my father had once upon a time explained to me- before he had lost my mother. "You know Dale, you remind me a lot of my dad. Well before he turned into an asshole."

Dale laughed and looked at me, "well I'm glad that I'm at least before. Say, why didn't you go to gun training?"

"Eh, I already know how to shoot one and I wasn't an education major for a reason," I told Dale. He laughed and nodded at me. I looked up and saw that Glenn was headed over to us. Just as he made it up to us I smiled at him, "hey Glenn."

"Spark plugs, huh?" Glenn asked us, looking nervous.

"Uh Glenn, this is the engine," I said to him, giving him a suspicious look.

"Want to tell us what's going on?" Dale asked him.

"You're old. And Rain, you're smart. You're- You know things. So. What if somebody told you something that somebody else should know?" Well worded Glenn, a wonder you weren't a Pulitzer Prize winning author.

"Glenn, stop being dramatic. Spit it out," Dale told him.

"There's there's walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnant."

"Wait, I knew about Lori, I comforted her the other night. But how did you find out about the walkers?! And are you sure?"

"I'm sure, I wanted to uh, well uh, get away with Maggie, well we-"

"Glenn, we're all adults here. I get it, don't be embarrassed. And shit, she's hot, good job. Anyways, continue," I told Glenn so that he would continue his story.

"Well, anyways. I told her to meet me at the barn and she tried to get to me but I saw them first. The doors are secure but the second floor is open. That's how I saw them."

"How many?" Dale asked.

"Maybe about 20. I have no idea. I couldn't see them very well."

"We have to tell the rest of the group," I said.

"NO! I swore Maggie I wouldn't say anything but I know I need to but still. Let me do it. I'll tell them in the morning. I swear."

I sighed, but nodded. The reset of the group was coming back from gun training. Dinner was quickly made, and not wanting to look at the guilty look on Glenn's face all night I got up. Grabbing myself and Daryl a plate, I said goodnight to everyone and made my way back to Daryl's tent.

I called out to Daryl before I walked in, and opened the flap. "Brought you dinner." I saw the book that Andrea had brought him on the floor and I smiled. "You know, The Invisible Man is actually a really good book."

"It's boring, I tried it." I sighed but smiled anyways, handing Daryl his plate and sitting on the floor in front of him. We had finished with dinner and had been sitting in silence for a while when Daryl finally spoke up.

"You've been awfully quiet tonight. What's goin on?"

I had wanted to keep it a secret, but I knew I had to tell Daryl. I just couldn't resist. "The barn is full of walkers," I blurted out.

"What? How'd you know?"

"Glenn was going to the barn to have sex with Maggie and he went to the second floor and saw them in there. There's apparently about 20."

"Wait. So Glenn did it with the farmer's daughter?"

"Daryl!" I shouted. "I can't believe that that's what you pulled from this. Although I gotta admit, I said the same thing when I first found out."

"Not our land princess, nothin we can do about it. Besides, haven't been attacked yet."

"I know, I just had to get it out. Glenn is apparently telling everyone tomorrow at breakfast."

"Hmm... That ought ta make a good breakfast conversation."

I laughed and laid down, exhausted from the day. Within minutes, even with Daryl's lamp still burning, I had fallen asleep.

Waking up the next morning, I yawned and stretched. Hmm, I guess it's become habit for me to fall asleep with Daryl, I guess it doesn't bother him. Poking Daryl in the shoulder, I stood up and looked at him. "C'mon, I'm pretty sure Glenn's gonna tell the rest of the group today. About the barn." Grumbling, Daryl climbed out of bed and walked over to where the group was sitting, me trailing slightly behind.

"Um, guys," Glenn started, looking at the entire group who were looking at him expectantly. I gave him a supportive nod and he continued. "So the barn is full of walkers." Way to be blunt Glenn. The entire group dropped their plates and broke into a run towards the barn. Reaching the barn, I saw Shane looking inside and turning back, he looked at Rick and sighed.

"You cannot tell me you're all right with this," he addressed Rick.

"No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land."

"This is our lives!" Shane yelled.

"Lower your voice," both Rick and I hissed.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea stated. Naturally you'd side with him, stupid whore. Yea, I saw that smile on your face when you got back here. I know you hooked up with him. Hope you like Lori's leftovers.

"It ain't right. Not remotely. Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time," Shane tried to convince the group. Hmm, don't like that there's a new leader Shane?

"We can't go," Rick mumbled.

"Why, Rick? Why?" Lori. Carl. Sophia. Myself. Daryl. T-Dog. We've got a lot of injured- and pregnant- people here genius.

"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol cut in.

"Okay. Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility," Shane started.

"We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick growled.

"I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago," Daryl cut in. She made it this far, she could still be making it.

"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll," Shane mocked.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Daryl snapped.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said," Shane attempted to justify.

"You get a good lead, it's in the first-" Daryl started before Shane cut in.

"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction." Finally fed up with Shane, Daryl launched himself at him. Normally I would have cut in, but Shane deserved it. Rick however, did cut in. He stepped between the 2 and pushed on their chests to get them away from each other.

"Back off!" Rick snarled at the 2 men.

"Keep your hands off me," Daryl snapped at Rick. Moving back, Daryl came to stand at my side.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out," Rick said.

"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane yelled.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land," Rick justified.

"Hershel sees those things in there as people- sick people- his wife, his stepson," Dale added.

"You knew?" Rick asked.

"Yesterday I talked to Hershel."

"And you waited the night?" He asked.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one."

"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no," Shane said. With that, we all moved away from the barn to gather our thoughts.

Everyone had now left the barn and I looked over to see Daryl retreating to the stables, Carol close behind. Walking behind them, I hid behind the wall to the stable, listening to the exchange between the 2.

"You can't," I saw Carol trying to stop Daryl from taking a horse out and going on the hunt again for Sophia.

"I'm fine," he grunted.

"Hershel said you need to heal."

"Yeah, I don't care."

"Well, I do."

"Rick's going out later to follow the trail."

"Yeah well, I ain't gonna sit around and do nothing." Typical Daryl, you're gonna get yourself killed this time.

"No, you're gonna go out there and get yourself hurt even worse. We don't know if we're gonna find her, Daryl. We don't. I don't." What? Had Carol given up on finding Sophia?

"What?" He asked, looking at Carol. He turned away from her and went to grab a saddle.

"Can't lose you too." As she said that, Daryl grabbed the saddle and the weight pulled him down, pulling painfully at his stitches. "Are you all right?" She asked, moving to his side.

"Just leave me be," he shouted. Carol moved back and was going to ask when he muttered "stupid bitch." Shaking her head, Carol turned around and walked out of the stable. Moving out of my hiding spot, I walked up to where Daryl was kneeling in the hay.

"You know she was only trying to help. And she was right, you can't do this," I told Daryl, picking the saddle up and throwing it back where it had been hung up.

"Someone's gotta find that girl," he grumbled.

"And we will, but right now you need to heal, you could kill yourself if you get injured again. Daryl merely huffed at me, standing at the entrance to the stable. I walked over to him and grabbed him by the arm, "c'mon, lets go find the rest of the group. See if you can help with something that won't kill you." Daryl huffed again but followed me anyways.

"You look like you should be in line for the early bird special," I joked with Glenn as I saw he was wearing one of Dale's fishing hats. Apparently Maggie had broken an egg in his other one.

"Go get your cap. I'll wash it for you, okay?" Lori told Glenn.

"Do you know what's going on?" Andrea asked.

"Where is everyone?" T-Dog asked.

"Y'all haven't seen Rick have you?" I asked.

"He went off with Hershel," Glenn told us. "We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago," he continued.

"Yeah you were," Lori added.

"What the hell" Daryl asked.

"Rick told us he was going out," I told Daryl.

"Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail. Oh, here we go," Daryl rolled his eyes at Shane who was stalking up to the porch where we were all standing. Were those the guns he had?

"What's all this?" Lori asked.

"You with me, man?" Shane asked Daryl, holding out a riffle.

"Yeah," Daryl nodded, taking the riffle from Shane.

"Time to grow up. You already got yours?" He asked Andrea.

"Yeah. Where's Dale?" She asked him.

"He's on his way," Shane huffed.

"Thought we couldn't carry," I said. Shane whirled around to me and handed me my Beretta, which I gratefully took back.

"We can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't. How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Shane asked Glenn, holding out another riffle, and looking over to Maggie. "That's it," he whispered as Glenn took the gun.

"Can you shoot?" He asked Maggie.

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight," Maggie hissed at Shane.

"We have to stay, Shane," Lori said.

"What are you doing? You're gonna get us kicked out of here," I hissed at Shane.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He- Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it." Lori stepped in front of Shane before Carl could take the gun and glared at him.

"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."

"Oh shit," T-Dog said, looking out in the yard. I looked and saw what T was talking about. Rick and Hershel were headed back across the yard, but with 2 walkers on catch poles. What the hell?

"What is that? What is that?" Shane yelled running to meet the pair in the yard. I took off after him and knew that the rest of the group had followed my lead.

"Shane!" I heard Lori yell.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shane shouted at Rick.

"Shane, just back off," Rick warned.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked, seeing that we were all armed.

"Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?" Shane asked, addressing us all.

"I see who I'm holding onto," Hershel snapped.

"No, man, you don't," Shane laughed, shaking his head.

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk."

"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us," Shane yelled, seeming to lose it. Whatever it was that he had left.

"Shane, shut up!" Rick shouted.

"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane pulled out his gun and shot the walker Hershel was holding 3 times through the chest. "No!" What a waste of bullets Shane.

"Stop it!" Lori shouted.

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming? That's its heart, its lungs," Shane yelled as he shot the corresponding areas that would normally be fatal. "Why is it still coming?"

"Shane, enough," Rick warned.

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough. Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Oh fuck you, you asshole. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now." Shane finished his speech and ran to the barn, taking a pick axe, working to pry the barn doors open. Oh God, I'd try to stop him but I know that I'm no match for him.

"Take the snare pole. Hershel, take the snare pole. Hershel, listen to me, man, please. Take it now. Hershel! Take it! No, Shane. Do not do this, brother. Wait! Don't do it!" Rick was trying to get Hershel to take his walker but Hershel had collapsed to his knees. Looking back, I saw the rest of Hershel's people looking on in horror.

"Rick!" Lori shouted, not that it would do any good.

"Please!" Rick begged with Shane, but it was too late. Shane had broken open the barn doors and was now goading the walkers out.

"Come on. Come on, we're out here."

"This is not the way! Please!" Rick begged. Shane simply turned around and shot Rick's walker. With no way left but to take down the walkers, myself, Andrea, Rick, T-Dog and Daryl reluctantly joined Shane.

"Get behind me," I heard Lori say to Carl.

"Come on," Shane urged the walkers again.

"Maggie," Glenn pleaded.

"It's okay, " she reassured him. Glenn pulled out his gun and stepped next to me in line, joining the gunfire.

"Stay back!" Rick warned the rest of the Greene family. Firing shot after shot, I was taking more and more walkers down, but my guilt increased with each one. These were their family, friends, neighbors, and we were killing them.

"Stop!" I heard Beth shout in the background. Firing my last shot and taking down the last walker, I sighed and dropped my gun to my side. Turning back I heard another growl and whipped back around to the barn. I saw a small walker emerge from the barn and I rasied my gun to kill it when I fianlly saw the whole thing. My God, it was Sophia. She was wearing the same clothes she had had on when she was lost and had a huge bite mark on her shoulder. I choked back a sob and dropped my gun. Everyone did, even Shane.

"Sophia? Sophia!" Carol shouted and went to run for her daughter. I was about to intercept her when Daryl caught Carol, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to the ground.

I saw that Rick was walking up to Sophia, but I ran and caught up with him. Catching Ricks arm as he was about to shoot Sophia, I shook my head at him and raised my own gun.

"You sure?" Rick asked me. I nodded, she was mine to find. I'd been the stupid one to not stay with her. I should be the one to have to live with the guilt of finally killing her. Sophia was a couple of feet away from me when I turned back shaking my head at a crying Carol. Looking back to Sophia, I raised my arms and took up the slack in the trigger. Squeezing the trigger, I felt my eyes water and my body begin to shake.

"Sophia. Sophia. Oh no. Sophia. Sophia. No. Sophia," I heard Carol continue to cry in the background.

"Don't watch," I heard Daryl mumble to Carol.

With every last ounce of strength that I had, I pulled the trigger and watch Sophia's body drop in front of me. In that moment, all was silent except the cries of Beth and Carol.

A/N: So the very sad hunt for Sophia is over. Not much to say here except thank you once again to **Kyokkou** for another great review. I hoped that someone would appreciate Rain beating up Andrea! Anyways, hope you guys liked it and please review! -A


	16. Hatlin's

I stared at the dead body of Sophia and dropped to my knees, throwing my gun to the side. I felt, empty, broken, I couldn't believe it. She had so many people looking for her, exact directions to get back to us. But it was me. I had left her. I could have let Rick take care of the walkers, and gotten her back to the highway. But I didn't. I left her. And my payback was having to kill her in front of everyone, in from of her mother. I was sure that Carol hated me now. I didn't blame her. I was the reason her daughter is dead. I turned to see Carol shove away from Daryl and run back to the RV, crying. I sighed and was about to leave when I saw Beth run past me over to a walker, I guessed that it was her mother.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Rick called to Beth, attempting to stop her. Just let her go Rick.

"Ma" Beth cried as she held the body of her dead mother. Just as I was about to pull away from the group I heard a shriek and looked up to see that Annette Greene was not truly dead. Running over, I slid on my knees over to Beth wrapping one arm around her and using the other to push Annette's face away from Beth's shoulder.

"Come on! Pull her away, pull her away!" Just as I began to lose my grip on Annette, Andrea came running over hitting Beth's dead mother with a shovel, killing her once and for all. Sighing, I dropped my grasp on the walkers head and released Beth, who scrambled up, running to Patricia. Just as the Greene family went to retreat to their house, I heard Shane speak up.

"We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along? You knew," he growled at Hershel.

"Leave us alone," Maggie, who was holding up her father, snapped at Shane.

"Hey, Shane, just stop, man," Rick said to Shane, putting his arm on his shoulder to pull him back.

"Get your hands off me," Shane told Rick, rolling his arm to throw Rick off.

"I-" Hershel started before he was cut off by Shane.

"You knew and you kept it from us."

"I didn't know."

"That's bullshit. I think y'all knew."

"We didn't know!" Maggie yelled.

"Why was she there?! Your Otis put those people in the barn," Shane said, glaring at Hershel.

"Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed," Hershel mumbled.

"You expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?" Well actually with the shaved head and overalls, yes you do.

"Shane, hey hey hey," Rick tried to calm his best friend.

"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel yelled at Shane.

"Everybody just calm down," Rick tried.

"Get him off my land!" Hershel shouted, pointing at Shane.

"Please," Maggie sighed.

"No. Let me tell you something," Shane tried, grabbing onto Hershel's shoulder.

"Hey. Don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?" Maggie snapped at Shane, pulling her father away.

"I mean it. Off my land," Hershel sighed before allowing Maggie to lead him, and the rest of their family, into the house. I saw Rick attempting to follow them, and Shane stepping in front of him.

"What are you doing? Hey, what are you doing? Daryl almost died looking for her, Rick. Any one of us could have. I'm gonna tell you right now. That son of a bitch, he knew."

"He didn't know. He's not like that. He opened his home to us."

"He put us all in danger." Not being able to take it anymore, I pushed myself off of the ground and headed for the woods. I had only been walking for about a minute when I came on a small clearing. Standing in the middle of the clearing and dropping to the ground, I did something I hadn't done in years. I cried.

It wasn't a little sob either. It was absolute hysterics. The last time I had cried this hard was when I had left home at 14, afraid with nowhere to go. Finally letting most of my emotions out, I was now just down to silent crying. I lifted my head slightly when I heard footsteps, but relaxed when I realized they were too even to be a walkers.

For a minute I thought that it might have been Daryl, but the footsteps were too heavy. Daryl was an almost silent walker. Seeing red tennis shoes at my feet, I was mildly surprised to see that it was Glenn, I would have thought he'd be comforting Maggie. "I would've thought you'd be with Maggie," I mumbled to him.

Glenn sat down next to me and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I thought that I should give her some space for a while, let her help her family. Besides, you looked like you needed the comfort more."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I looked up at Glenn, "she died because of me."

"Rain, you can't say that. Sophia's death wasn't your fault. It was an accident, just like the day you and Carl got shot, a stupid accident."

"Except we both survived," I mumbled.

"How could you think that she died because of you?" Glenn asked me.

"Because, 2 walkers had followed her into the woods. I decided to play hero and take down 1 walker while Rick got the other. I could have let him handle it. I could have given him my knife and I could've taken Sophia back to the highway. You know what her last words to me were? They were please don't leave me here. But I did, I left her and I told her I'd be back, but I never was. That was the last time I saw her alive."

"And what would have happened if Rick had gotten overwhelmed? You did the right thing, Sophia knew that. She knew you had to leave her, that it was the only viable option. And now, she may not be here, but she's looking down on you. And I'm sure she wants to tell you thank you for all you, and everyone else did, looking for her."

"I still could have tried to save her."

"Rain, you tried harder than anyone, except maybe Daryl. But you took a bullet and knife wound in the process!"

"The knife was from my fight with walkers."

"Oh come on, I know you. You were thinking about something. Maybe it was her, maybe it wasn't. But I know that while you were out there, you were looking for her." Glenn was silent for a minute before he stood up and offered me his hand, "come on, we're having a service for her soon. I know you'd want to be there."

Sighing, I grabbed his arm and allowed him to pull me up. We walked out of the clearing in silence with Glenn's arm draped over my shoulder. I looked out to my tent and noticed that Daryl's was no longer there. Where was he? Looking around I saw that he had moved his tent out almost to the wood line. I guess we had a similar way of dealing with things- pulling away from others. I looked up and noticed that most of the group were standing, debating what to do with the bodies. Walking up I sighed, but grabbed a shovel.

"You want us to start burying?" Daryl asked Rick, walking up to the group. He gave me a concerned look, but I merely dropped my head down, not wanting to see the pity.

"We need a service," Rick answered.

"Carol would want that," Lori put in.

"Yeah, we all want that," Andrea sighed.

"Let's dig a grave for Sophia, and Annette and Shawn, uh, over by those trees. And we'll need a truck to move the bodies," Rick said shakily.

"I'll get the keys," T-Dog said.

"No, no. I got the truck," Daryl told him.

"And the others? That's a lot of digging."

"We bury the ones we love and burn the rest," Rick said.

"Let's get to work," Lori mumbled before walking off.

I had been digging graves for what felt like an eternity. I sighed before wiping my forehead and throwing the shovel down. I was finally done with my grave. Sophia's. I let out a long sigh before moving to the Winnebago, going inside for a bottle of water. I closed the door and went to the kitchenette, grabbing a bottle and almost downing the entire thing. I leaned back on the counter lost in my thoughts when Carol's voice startled me back into reality. I had forgotten she was in here.

"You should be careful out there, it's incredibly hot," she told me.

"Yeah, it is," I mumbled. We both stood in silence for a moment before I finally turned to look at Carol. "Carol, I'm so sorry that I left Sophia. And that I couldn't find her. And that I had to..." I trailed off, but I knew that Carol understood.

"Rain, you have nothing to apologize for. If you had taken her and left Rick, he could have died. And what would we do without him? Sweetie, you took an arrow and a knife in the process of looking for her. You and Daryl did more for my little girl than either one of you ever needed to do. Thank you."

I looked up at Carol, genuinely surprised. "You don't hate me?"

Carol gave me a small smile, "Rain, how could I hate you? Especially after all you've done for me. You're like a daughter to me."

I smiled slightly and whispered, "You're like a mother to me, the one I never deserved."

"No Rain, you deserve the best. You have such a huge heart and you deserve to have love and happiness. And I know you're close to finding it." She gave me a knowing smile and I was about to ask what she meant, when Daryl walked in.

"They're ready. Come on," Daryl told us, meaning Sophia's funeral.

"Why?" Carol asked, shocking me.

"'Cause that's your little girl," Daryl told her.

That's not my little girl. That's some other thing. My Sophia was alone in the woods. All this time I thought- She didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago." I wanted tp shake Carol, to tell her she needed to go. But I can't force her. Shaking my head, I got up, and walked with Daryl to the service where Maggie had just finished speaking about her family.

"Can someone speak for Sophia?" Rick asked, obviously uncomfortable. The group of us sat in uncomfortable silence before I spoke up.

"I will." For a minute I had no idea what to say, but I eventually gathered my thoughts and took a deep breath. "Sophia, I didn't know her very well, but I can tell a lot about a person just by seeing them. And I saw a lot in Sophia. She didn't have a mean bone in her body, this world was a cruel place for her. In a way, I'm glad she's gone, she doesn't have to fight and be miserable here. I know that somewhere up there, someone is watching over her. And I know that Sophia would want us to keep fighting. So that's what we're going to do. Keep fighting. For Sophia." I sighed and looked up at the group. Everyone was giving me appreciative nods and I knew that I hadn't fucked up.

"Thank you Rain, Sophia would have liked that," Rick told me. With that, members of the group started to dissipate until it was only myself, Maggie, Rick, and Glenn.

"Hershel is missing," Maggie blurted out.

"What?" I asked. "Where do you think he could have gone?"

"How long?" Rick asked.

"Since the barn. Beth is in some sort of catatonic shock though, we need him here," she answered.

"Shit," Glenn mumbled.

"I do have an idea of where he is though, come with me," she told us before leading our small group back to the house, upstairs, and into what appeared to be Hershel's bedroom.

"Your stepmother's things?" Rick asked, pointing to a box of women's clothes in the corner of the room.

"He was so sure she'd recover. They'd just pick up where they left off," she told us, allowing us to look around the room. Rick went over to the dresser and picked up what looked like an old flask.

"Looks like he found an old friend."

"That belonged to my grandfather, gave it to dad when he died," Maggie explained.

"I didn't take Hershel for a drinker," Rick said.

"No, he gave it up on the day I was born. He didn't even allow liquor in the house."

"What's the bar in town?" Rick asked.

"Hatlin's. He practically lived there in his drinking days," Maggie told him.

"Betting that's where I'll find him," Rick said.

"Yeah, I've seen the place. I'll take you," Glenn offered.

"All right, I'll get the truck." Rick turned and started walking away, so I ran to catch up with him.

"Rick! Hey, I just wanted to see if I could come with you guys to get Hershel?"

"Rain, I don't think-"

"Please Rick, I can't stand being here. Everyone is moping around and I just can't be around it anymore. Plus I can't take looking at that barn. Please. You know that I can shoot, let me go with you guys. Wouldn't hurt to have another pair of eyes on the lookout."

Rick seemed to think about it for a minute before nodding his head. "Go get your stuff, I'm bringing the truck around now. We're leaving in a few."

"Thank you!" I called before running to my tent, grabbing my Beretta and strapping it to my waist and pulling all of my knives on me. The paranoid part of me grabbed my Springfield as well and tucked it into the back of my pants. Turning at sprinting back to the house, I met Rick and Glenn at the truck before jumping in and heading to Hatlin's.

We had been driving for about 10 minutes, crammed into the bench seat when Glenn spoke up, startling us out of our thoughts.

"Maggie said she loves me. She doesn't mean it. I mean she can't. I mean well- She she's upset or confused. She's probably feeling, like-"I couldn't help but to laugh at Glenn's rambling when Rick cut him off.

"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling."

"No. No. No, you know what? She wants to be in love, so she's she needs something to- to, like to hold onto," Glenn stammered, trying to justify Maggie's love for him.

"Glenn, it's pretty obvious to everyone Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing. So what's the problem?" Rick asked.

"I didn't say it back. I've never had a woman say that to me before except my mom, of course, and my sisters. But with Maggie, it's different. We barely know each other. What does she really know about me? Nothing. We're practically strangers. But I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood there like a jerk."

"Really Glenn? You love her too, you could've just said it back," I told him shaking my head.

"Hey. Hey, this is a good thing, something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it. And when we get back, return the favor. It's not like she's going anywhere."

The conversation had been going well, but I got the bad feeling that it was about to go South. Letting the smile on my face drop, I listened.

"Rick? I know about Lori, her being pregnant. I got her those pills," Glenn told Rick guiltily.

"I figured."

"Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you."

"Don't be. You did what you thought was right. It just so happens it wasn't, Rick told him. That seemed to be the end of the conversation as Rick turned his attention back to the road. I sighed at the now awkward air and looked out the window, hopefully Hatlin's wasn't too far away.

Back at the Farm  
>Daryl had been sharpening his arrows when he saw Lori walking over to him. Scoffing he looked down at the arrows and tried to block her out. "Moving to the suburbs? Listen, Beth's in some kind of catatonic shock. We need Hershel," she told him.<p>

"Yeah. So what?" He asked, not caring one bit.

"So I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back. Daryl?" He merely scoffed and scraped hard at the arrow he was holding.

"Your bitch went window-shopping. You want him? Fetch him yourself. I got better things to do," he snapped at Lori.

"What's the matter with you? How could you be so selfish?" Daryl looked up in shock and anger at Lori.

"Selfish? Listen to me, Olive Oyl. I was out there looking for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process. Don't you tell me about me getting my hands dirty! You want those two idiots? Have a nice ride. I'm done looking for people."

Lori was about to walk off when she turned around and added one last thing before walking off. "Rain is with them too, just thought you should know." With that, Lori stomped away from Daryl's little camp.

What?! Rain was with them? Why would she go? She's in shock, she wants to take her anger out on something. Oh God, she was gonna get herself killed. Shit. What would he do if she never came back from this trip? The answer was simple- he would never come back either. Losing Rain meant losing himself.

At Hatlin's

"Hershel," Rick called out as we stepped into the bar. It was completely empty except for Hershel sitting up at the counter.

"Who's with you?" He called without looking back.

"Glenn. And Rain."

"Maggie sent them?" Hershel asked without turning around.

"They volunteered. They're good like that."

"How many have you had?" Rick asked, walking up to the bar. Glenn and I followed slowly.

"Not enough."

"Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed, is in some sort of state."

"Must be in shock."

"I think you are too," Rick told him.

"Maggie's with her?" Hershel asked, looking unconcerned.

"Yeah, but Beth needs you," Rick tried.

"What could I do? She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." You're the doctor type person, genius.

"You thought there was a cure. Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope." True, but maybe you didn't have to do it in such an odd way.

"Hope? When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive." What about me? I got shot too, which everyone seems to forget.

"But he did," Rick whispered.

"He did. Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that."

"They deserve to have their father. They still have you. Don't make them lose you too," I tried to convince Hershel. He didn't respond to me so I sighed and walked away from him, where Rick and Glenn were whispering.

"So what do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?" Glenn asked.

"We can't leave him! He could drink himself to death here. We have to get him to stop," I said. I'd had my fair share of drunk nights and I knew that at the rate Hershel was going, he'd not be coming back.

"Just go. Just go!" Hershel shouted at us.

"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe," Rick told Hershel.

"Like you promised that little girl?" He asked, facing us. I ground my teeth together but managed to prevent myself from saying anything.

"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?" Rick asked calmly.

"Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"

"The world was already in bad shape when we met."

"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!" Hershel yelled at Rick.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" Rick asked.

"Yes. Yes. Yes, you are."

"Now come on. Your girls need you now more than ever," Rick tried again.

"I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been, that Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you? There is no hope for any of us." God, he sounded like Jenner did at the CDC.

"You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a Walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? Now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves. You know what? This this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them." I smiled at Rick's way of putting it, when the bar doors opened. Grabbing my knife believing it to be walkers, I was surprised when it was 2 living men.

I sighed but quickly scowled at the men. One was overweight and greasy looking. The other looked like he'd sell you out for a sandwich. I growled slightly raising my knife, I didn't like the way the men were looking at me, their eyes stopping longer than they should have on my chest.

"Son of a bitch. They're alive. I'm Dave. That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony," the fat one spoke up, both stepping into the bar.

"Eat me, Dave." The thin one, Tony, spoke up.

"Hey, maybe someday I will." Hopping over the bar, Tony helped himself to the bottle sitting on the counter that Hershel had been using. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was."

"I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people." Oh Glenn, as oblivious as always.

"Rick Grimes," Rick told them. He looked like he didn't trust the two at all. Smart man.

"How about you, pal? Sweetheart? Have one?" Tony asked, motioning to the bottle. I merely shook my head and continued scowling at them.

"I just quit," Hershel told the 2.

"You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend," Tony said, laughing.

"His name's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them," Rick explained.

"I'm truly sorry to hear that. To better days and new friends. And to our dead, may they be in a better place," Tony said, toasting with Dave, Rick, and Glenn.

"And how about you sweetheart, you got a name?" Tony asked turning to me.

"Rain," I grit out.

"Rain huh? I like it. Hot name for a hot girl," Tony said, winking at me. I recoiled in disgust, and longed to plant one of my knives in between his wandering eyes.

"Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop," Tony said, twirling a gun in his hands.

"I'm a cop," Rick said.

"This one was already dead."

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia," Hershel said, attempting to diffuse the situation.

"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere," Tony said.

"Well, what drove you South?" Hershel asked.

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 lbs. in sweat alone down here," Tony complained. Good, then leave.

"I wish," Dave grunted in the corner. Ah don't worry buddy, its blubber. For winter- hibernating.

"No, first it was D.C. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing. One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the Gulf, sending ferries to the islands. The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country - Kansas, Nebraska," Tony explained to us.

"Nebraska?" Glenn asked.

"Low population, lots of guns. Kinda makes sense. Ever been to Nebraska, kid? A reason they call 'em flyover states. How about you guys?"

"Fort Benning, eventually," Rick answered.

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains." God no. Is no place still safe?

"Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn asked, shocked.

"Sadly, I am. Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep." Mindless freaks, meaning yourselves?

"If you sleep," Dave butt in.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?" Tony asked. Shit, here it goes. I gave Rick a concerned look, and he nodded at me, knowing where this was about to go.

"Not really," Rick answered.

"Those your cars out front?"

"Yeah. Why?" Rick asked, beginning to get defensive.

"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?" Tony asked. I knew that this conversation was going downhill fast. Just in case things turned ugly, I slipped my hand into my pocket, grabbing the handle of the throwing knife I had tucked away.

"We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink," Hershel said quickly.

"A drink? Hershel, man I thought you quit. Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it is it safe?" Liar, I thought.

"It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here," Glenn told them.

"Walkers? That what you call them?" Tony asked.

"Yeah."

"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains. More succinct." I had thought the same thing when I first heard it.

"Succinct? I'm surprised you know what that means," I snarled at Tony. He merely shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

"Okay, Tony went to college," Dave butted in.

"So what so what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development? Trailer park or something? A farm? Old McDonald had a farm. You got a farm? E-I-e-I-o. Is it safe?" Here we go, it's about to get ugly.

"It's gotta be," Dave said.

"You got food, water?" Tony asked.

"You got cooze? Anything like her, shit I'd pay for something like her even back in the good ole days. Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks. Whatcha think sweets, head out back, have a bit of fun?" Dave asked me.

"You even try to touch me, I'll rip your god damn hand off and feed it to you, piece of shit," I snarled at Dave who backed off, eyes widening in fear.

"Listen, pardon my friend. City kids they got no tact," Tony said. Apology not accepted.

"No disrespect," Rick said. I whipped around but he gave me a pleading look. I knew what he was doing, he was trying to be civil and keep these men from snapping. Still, if I get the chance, I'd like to blow Dave's brains out.

"So listen, Glenn-"Tony started, attempting to make a deal with us about getting to the farm.

"We've said enough," Rick cut him off.

"Well, hang on a second. This farm it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?" Dave asked, looking to his friend.

"Yeah, real sweet. How about a little Southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower," Tony tried to convince us. Yea, right, y'all can rot in hell for all I care.

"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option," Rick tried, playing diplomat once more.

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"What part of no do you not understand?" I growled at Tony.

"Watch it sweetheart, I won't hesitate to rough you up," Tony smirked at me. I shook my head in disgust.

"I'm sorry. We can't. We can't take in anymore," Rick finally said.

"You guys are something else. I thought I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for too."

"We don't know anything about you," Rick said.

"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other." I tightened my grip on my knife knowing that Tony's patience was wearing thin. So was mine though.

"That's not gonna happen," Rick flat out told Tony.

"Rick this is bullshit," Dave stuttered.

"Calm down," Rick told the man.

"Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you 3 assholes and your bitch in the head and take your damn farm!" Dave yelled. I was about ready to pull out my knife and throw when Tony once more stepped in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick? Look. We're just friends having a drink. That's all. Now where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see. Hey, look at that. That'll work. You gotta understand we can't stay out there. You know what it's like." Tony went to the back and grabbed a bottle of expensive liquor, pouring himself a shot.

"Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking," Rick tried to tell him as politely as possible.

"Keep looking. Where do you suggest we do that?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. I hear Nebraska's nice," Rick joked. I couldn't help but to smile at Rick's comment, however my smile dropped when I saw Tony's hand reach casually for his belt. Right next to his gun. I looked at Rick to silently warn him, however as Rick also moved his hand to his belt, I knew that he knew as well. Instead, I tightened my grip on my knife, ready to pull it out and throw at Dave.

"Nebraska. This guy," Tony laughed before pulling his gun out, but Rick was faster. Rick shot Tony in the forehead and not missing my window of opportunity, I turned, pulling out my knife, and launching it into Dave's head. Both Dave and Tony were now lying in pools of their own blood. Slowly walking up to Dave, pulling out my knife, I realized something.

I had killed my first living person, and I hadn't cared. I hadn't hesitated. I was growing cold. One last thought ran through my mind before going to stand with Rick and Glenn, was I turning into my father?

A/N: I just wanted to thank **adricullenhale, xXSatanSkittlesXx, twilightgirl1690, thedesolaterose, Yele98, and emorris5** for their follows favorites, and reviews! Please review guys! -A


	17. Again!

"Holy shit," Glenn sighed.

"You all right?" Rick asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded, barely able to speak.

"Hershel?" Rick called back. The man merely nodded his head. "Let's head back." The four of us grabbed our stuff and went to leave the bar, knowing that the shots most likely would attract walkers. I jumped as I heard the sound of a car engine approaching, looking quickly over to Rick.

"Car. Car. Get down," he hissed at us. I ducked down beside the bar with Rick, while Glenn was up by the front door, and Hershel was in the back of the bar behind a table.

I heard Glenn gasp as the engine of the car shut off and we heard the doors open and close. I held a hand over my mouth, if these people were with Dave and Tony, they couldn't be good news. Just as I thought that the people had left I heard a man call out. "Dave? Tony? They said over here?" So there was diffidently more than one.

"Yeah," another man's voice answered.

"I'm telling you, man, I heard shots," I heard a third man say.

"I saw roamers two streets over. Might be more around here," I heard the second man speak up again.

"It's hot. We gotta get out of here," the first man spoke up. I assumed that they meant that there were a bunch of walkers around. Good, leave. Let everyone else make it out of this alive.

"Dave! Tony!" The third man shouted. Shut the hell up you moron, you trying to get yourself killed?!

"Shut up, you idiot! You wanna attract 'em? Just stick close. We're gonna find 'em."

"Dude, he said to stay close. Tony."

The men had been poking around out front of the bar when we began to hear the distinct growling of walkers. Shit. That just made this escape a lot harder. I heard the gasps and grunts of the men as they began to fight off the walkers. I heard the grunting of the men fighting off the rest of the walkers when we heard a call, "shit! No!" The walker growling finally died off but I still heard the footsteps of the men outside of the bar. Fuck, they won't leave. What do we do now?

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn whispered worriedly.

"Would you? They're looking for their men," I hissed back to him.

"We can't sit here any longer. Let's head out the back and make a run to the car," Rick whispered to us all. We began to move, however I jumped and fell back to the floor when I heard a gun fire.

"What happened?" A man asked outside.

"Roamers, I nailed 'em. They disappeared but their car's still there." I assumed the man was talking about the car Dave and Tony must have come in.

"I cleared those buildings."

"You guys get this one?" A man asked, and I heard his footsteps coming up to the front door of the bar. My eyes worriedly searched around the bar for an escape, but the only one I could think of was the back door.

"No," I heard the first man from earlier say.

"Me neither."

"We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?" I heard the mans footsteps approach and my mind went into a panic. They obviously had us outnumbered and most likely, outgunned. The man began to push the door open when Glenn slid over and pushed the door shut, sitting with his back against it. It was a good thing that it kept the men out, but now they knew that someone was in the bar.

"What?"

"Someone pushed it shut. There's someone in there." The man rose his voice and called out to us, "Yo, is someone in there? Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends." No trouble my ass, I looked over at Rick and judging by the look he was giving me, he knew it too.

"What do we do?" One of the men outside asked.

"Bum rush the door?" Another man asked.

"No, we don't know how many are there. Just relax." The man once more called into the bar to us, "We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us. This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it." Fuck you guys, you're probably just like your friends. I shook my head at Rick and he nodded.

"Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there."

"Someone guard the door. If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."

The footsteps were beginning to depart and I let out a long and quiet sigh. I was about ready to make a move for the back door when Rick shouted out, "They drew on us!" Quickly the footsteps came back to the outside of the door.

"Rick! They were leaving, why'd you do that?!" I hissed at him.

"Dave and Tony in there? They alive?" One of the men asked.

"No," Rick replied to them. I sighed, Rick might want to play nice with them, but I had a feeling that they wouldn't be so happy when they found out that we had killed their friends.

"They killed Dave and Tony," one of the men said. Hmm, I like that they managed to guess that.

"Come on, man, let's go," one of the men said. Thank God, maybe they'll just leave us in peace.

"No, I'm not leaving, I'm not telling Jane. I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar." Let her get the hell over it, we've all lost someone.

"Your friends drew on us! They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was- wrong place, wrong-" Rick was cut off at the sound of shotguns firing, shattering the glass of the doors. Gasping I dove to the back of the bar where Hershel was, quickly followed by Rick.

The shotguns continued to fire when Rick pulled me to face him by my shoulders, "Get outta here! Go! Rain, lead them back to the car!"

I heard the men's engine rev and Rick shouted out, in a last ditch effort, "hey! We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just just back off, no one else gets hurt!" I heard guns clicking and the stairs rattling.

I looked around and hissed to Rick "where the hell is Glenn?!"

"Shit!" One of the men outside yelled, before cocking his shotgun and firing. Panicking, I finally saw Glenn sprinting around the bar to where we were. The man outside cocked his shotgun, and fired once more, narrowly missing Glenn.

"Glenn! Glenn!" Rick shouted.

"Glenn, are you OK?" I asked him, as he dove and fell by us.

"I- I'm all right. I'm all right," he stuttered, shaking.

Up front I heard a shotgun cocking again and the door of the bar close. My heart was pounding so loud in my ears that I could only hear the mumbling of the men.

"I'll hold 'em here. You cover Glenn. See if you can make it to your car. Tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here," Rick whispered to us.

"Let me stay with you, help hold them back," I told Rick.

"No, I need you to go with them, help cover Glenn, and keep a sharp eye out," Rick told me. I wasn't happy about leaving Rick back here but I nodded anyways.

"You want me to cover Glenn?" Hershel asked.

"You missed all that gun training. It could've come in handy now," Rick told the older man. Something told me that Hershel wasn't completely helpless with a gun. Turning to Hershel, I handed him my spare gun.

"Nah, I can shoot. I just don't like to," he answered.

"Sorry. Sorry," Glenn sighed to Hershel and I as we moved back to the back door of the bar where he had been waiting.

"Rick wants you to try for the car," Hershel told Glenn.

"Try?" Glenn asked, with wide eyes.

"You'll try and succeed. Rain and I will cover you," Hershel said. I nodded to him, giving him a small assuring smile. I would go, but Glenn was a tiny but faster than I was, and we needed the fastest of us.

"That's a great plan," Glenn mumbled before the 3 of us left out the back door of the bar and ducked into the alley. Nodding to Glenn, he took of in a sprint down the alley. He'd barely made it 10 feet when I heard a shot being fired. Glenn groaned and hit the ground by the dumpster. I was about to run to him when I felt a shooting pain run through me leg. At this point I knew what it was, a gunshot.

Are you fucking kidding me?! AGAIN?! That's the second time in like a week and a half! And this time it was right where the knife wound was, oh great, ny long list of injuries is expanding. Moving my leg a tiny bit, I felt that the bullet was lodged into my leg. Feeling the wound, I could tell that it luckily hadn't hit my Femoral artery, the bleeding was too slow, and the bullet was preventing a lot of normal blood loss. Good, I couldn't pass out now. Coming back into reality, I heard the gunfire continue and groaning coming from Glenn's direction.

Pulling myself into a standing position, I heard footsteps coming towards us. Turning as fast as I could and raising my gun, I noticed that it was just Rick.

"What happened?" He asked.

Hershel stopped firing and turned to Rick, "he fired. He must've hit Glenn."

"Yea, through me! Oh God damn it! Fuckers! Is Glenn OK?" I groaned.

"Rain! Are you OK?" Rick asked. Hershel finally turned to look at me as well.

"I'm fine, hurts like hell but I'll live. We gotta see if Glenn's OK, I have no idea where he was hit," I told Rick, groaning in pain at the weight I was putting on my leg.

"Where is he?" Rick asked.

"He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving," Hershel said.

The 3 of us quickly made our way over to him and ducked behind the dumpster. "You hit? Are you hit?" Rick whispered to Glenn.

"No. No. It's all right," Glenn moaned, slowly moving to a stand.

"Naturally I'd be the only one that gets hit," I growled under my breath.

"Here," Rick said pulling my arm around his shoulder. I moved my weight onto my left leg and balanced my weight on Rick, leaning onto him a little bit.

"The car's right there," he told us, squeezing my shoulder.

"Okay," I mumbled.

"We're almost home," he mumbled.

"You good? Can you hold on?" Hershel asked moving to my other side.

"I'm good," I mumbled. "What choice do I have?"

The groaning of the walkers continued, closer to us this time, when Rick spoke up, "let's go."

We moved out of the alley when gunshots began to sound close to us. "Get back," Rick hissed.

Tires squealed as we saw the men's car pull up. "Let's get out of here! Roamers all over the place! Hurry up! We gotta get out of here! What about Sean?" The men were all yelling.

"They shot him. We gotta go. Roamers are everywhere," another man answered.

"We're leaving?" Another man asked.

"Jump! Hurry up, jump already," the other man called to someone up on the roof. I looked up and saw a kid, probably not much younger than me preparing to jump from the rooftop. I watched as the kid backed up and took a flying leap off of the rooftop. As good as the jump was, it wasn't god enough. The kid fell short and his leg went right down on the spiked fence, letting out an ear splitting scream. Alright, so maybe he was having a worse day than me.

"Dude didn't make it," Glenn whispered.

"No shit Glenn, I think everyone knew that," I hissed. He looked at me apologetically and I nodded at him, grunting in pain.

"Help me! Help help me!" The kid was shouting, obviously unable to move.

"I've gotta go. I've gotta go. I'm sorry!" The man driving the truck apologized before slamming on the gas and taking off.

"No no, don't leave! Help me! No! No! Help!" The kid was screaming. A tiny part of me felt bad for him, he was just a kid after all.

"Get Hershel," Rick told Glenn.

"Help! Help me! No! No!" The kid continued to scream at the top of his lungs.

"Her- Hershel! Hershel. Hershel," Glenn called to the older man.

"Can you stand?" Rick asked me.

"Uh, sure." He nodded at me, slowly letting me go before running across to where the kid was laying, attached to the fence. I shifted my weight around and managed to find a way to lean without putting any weight on my bad leg.

"The gunfire must've attracted the walkers," Hershel said, popping up next to me.

"Where's Rick?" Glenn asked.

"He- he ran across," I sighed. The pain was beginning to get to me.

"Well, hell, we can't go without him. Rick!" We ran across to the kid and Rick, and gave Rick a look that said it was time to go. He looked back at the kid with pity in his eyes.

"We have to go now," he told the kid.

"No!" The kid shouted, crying.

"Shh! I'm sorry, son. We have to go," Rick told the kid.

"No no, don't leave me please," the boy begged. I looked away, it was such an inhumane way to die, left like bait for the walkers.

"We have to go," Rick told the kid.

"We can't," Hershel said.

"He was just shooting at us!" Rick hissed.

"He's a kid," Hershel said.

"Yea, so is Carl. Life sucks sometimes! I'm not dying for this kid, c'mon, I've lost enough blood," I snapped at the men. I felt bad for the kid but I was on my last leg here. Literally.

"Please help me," the kid sobbed.

"This place is crawling with walkers!" Glenn hissed.

"We can't leave him!" Rick shouted at Glenn.

"The fence went clean through. There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece," Hershel observed. The kid merely continued to sob loudly.

"Shut up or I will shoot you!" Rick hissed at the kid, raising his gun to the kids head. That seemed to shut the kid up.

"That may be the answer. We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out," Hershel said.

"Shut up," Rick growled at the kid who had begun to sob again.

"I'm sorry," Rick told the kid again who was now screaming. "Sh-sh shut up. Shut up."

"Maybe we should put him down. I don't wanna see any more killing, but this is cruel," Glenn suggested, pointing to the kids leg.

"Can't we just take the leg off?" I asked.

"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asked.

"No no, don't don't Don't cut my leg off, please. Please, not my leg," the kid begged.

"Shut the hell up! You want us to help you? Then let us do what we have to," Rick snapped at the kid again.

"Will this cut through the bone?" Rick asked, holding up the hatchet.

"I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia. He's going to lose his lower leg," Hershel told us.

"No, don't. No."

"When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterize the wound so he doesn't bleed out."

"All right, no choice. Hurry up," Rick told Hershel, who was leaning over the kid, preparing to hack his leg off.

"Oh God, oh God. No!"

"Hand me that stick," Hershel told Rick.

"Here."

"No. Ah!" I heard the familiar growl of walkers and I grunted. Really? Can we not catch a break today?

"Guys, walkers," Glenn warned us.

"Hurry up!" Rick shouted at Hershel, over the yells of the kid.

"Shut up!" Rick yelled at the kid once again.

"Oh God," I heard Glenn moan. I turned back and saw it, a huge hoard of walkers, headed right for us. "They're everywhere."

"Hershel, how we doing over there?" Rick asked, obviously concerned. I knew the walkers were getting too close, so I joined Rick and Glenn, taking down the walkers that were getting too close for comfort.

"I need more hands! Easy easy," Hershel told the kid.

"No, don't don't don't don't cut my leg off please."

"Come on, we gotta go! I'm almost out of ammo! We don't have much time! Come on, we've gotta go! Can't hold 'em off! Hershel, do it now! Come on, Hershel!" Rick was screaming at Hershel. The walkers were within a few yards of us and I'd run out of bullets.

"There is no time!" Hershel called to us.

"Hershel, come on!" Rick told him. Hershel ran to his car and revved the engine. Glenn grabbed my arm and put one of his around my waist leading me to the truck.

"RICK! Come on!" I shouted to him.

"Please don't leave me! Please! No! Please don't leave me! Please! Please don't leave me!" The kid continued to scream. Rick walked over to him, grabbed his leg, and ripped it off the fence in one swift motion. I winced as I heard the earth shattering scream from the kid. Rick swiftly pulled the kid from the dumpster his body was laying on, picking him up, and throwing him into the trunk of Hershel's car. Now free to leave Hershel revved the engine and peeled out from the lot, away from the main hoard of walkers. Running back to the car, Rick threw open the door, jumping into the car and slamming the door. Glenn had already started the engine so Rick slammed on the gas and pulled out of the lot as well.

We had been driving for about 5 minutes, on our way back to the farm, when Glenn finally looked at me. "Rain, I need to get the bullet out. It looks like it went in, only one piece."

I had been about to scream hell no to him when Rick opened the glove box, pulling out a pair of tweezers. "I'll keep the car as steady as possible." Glenn grabbed the tweezers and I sighed.

"What the hell? Just do it fast." Glenn held the tweezers and put them right up to my leg, when I noticed that he was shaking pretty badly. "Glenn, it's like your playing Operation, that game from when we were kids, just do it and do it fast. I'll tell you if you need to stop." Glenn nodded and slowly brought the tweezers to the bullet wound; I had been lucky, the wound wasn't incredibly deep. Glenn finally moved the tweezers into the wound and poked at the bullet. "Don't poke it you idiot! Grab it and pull it out!"

"I'm trying! I don't want to hit the flesh around it!"

"Glenn you're going to have to! I have a high pain tolerance, just do it!" Glenn opened the tweezers the entire way and I felt him maneuver them around the bullet. He tightened the grip on the bullet and I felt it twist slightly in my leg. "Oh fuck!"

"WHAT?!" Glenn jumped, jerking the bullet with him.

"Get it the hell out of me!" With one swift motion, Glenn tore the tweezers out, pulling the bullet out, and opening the wound slightly. The blood, now with nothing blocking it's path, began to flood out.

Rick threw back a piece of cloth, which Glenn easily caught. "Tie that around her leg, stem the bleeding, we don;t want her passing out on us." Glenn was tying the cloth when Rick called out to me, "will you be OK waiting on those stitches Rain? Randall's gonna need some serious surgery on that leg."

"I'll be fine. Wait, Randall?"

"That's his name," Rick mumbled.

The rest of the ride was silent until we pulled into the camp, throwing our doors open. I limped out of the car and immediatly caught Daryl's eye. There were so many emotions in them, hurt, betrayal, anger. But there was something else there too, he looked relieved, and slightly happy. Something else was there too, but I couldn't pick it out. His eyes dropped to my bleeding leg, and worry took over his face.

"Guys," Glenn said as he stepped out of the car.

Hershel stopped his engine and pulled himself out of his car. "Dad! You're okay," Maggie called, running to embrace her father.

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery," Hershel said as he moved out of his hug with Maggie. Patricia nodded and ran out to the shed, obviously confused at who was hurt.

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked, running to Rick.

"No, but what happened to you?" Rick asked his wife. I finally broke my gaze from Daryl and looked over at Lori. What the hell had happened to her? She had cuts and bruises all over.

"I was in a car accident," she said. How? We're literally the only people around.

"Accident? How?" Rick asked.

"I went looking for you," she answered.

"Snuck out on her own. Brought her back," Shane replied, walking over.

"Are you crazy? You could've-"

"Who the hell is that?" Daryl asked as Hershel pulled Randall out of the trunk.

"That's Randall. We couldn't just leave him behind. He would've bled out, if he lived that long. It's gotten bad in town," Rick answered him. Everyone went to check out our new addition, except for Daryl. He walked over to me, and wrapped one arm under my shoulders, and the other under my knees.

"What're you-" I was cut off by Daryl swooping me up, bridal style and carrying me over to his tent. Feeling like I didn't have a choice, I sighed and fell limp in his arms.

We had just come up on Daryl's tent when he stepped in and laid me down on the cot he had. I rolled slightly to him, although he was turned around rummaging for something. Judging on the look he'd had when he walked up to me, I figured that it would do me good to stay silent. He popped back up with a sewing kit in hand, and sat in front of the cot, pulling off the tie on my leg. I watched as he thread the needle and put it to my skin. I sucked in a deep breath, but Daryl surprised me.

With the hand he was using to keep steady, he slowly moved his hand in circles on my thigh, trying to keep me clam. It was working, but a little too well. Goosebumps began to rise on my leg. Embarrassed, I looked away from Daryl. A few minutes later, he broke the string and tied it off. His hand had never stopped moving on my thigh. Now finished though, he finally removed it, and I grew the nerve to look him in the eye. His intense gaze almost made me look away, but I held his stare.

"Why?" He finally whispered.

"What?" I asked, shocked that that had been what had come out. I had thought that he was going to yell at me or something.

"Why'd you go?"

My heart broke at his question, he seemed so betrayed by the fact that I had gone. "Daryl I- I felt guilty. At the whole Sophia thing. And wherever I went, people just gave me these pitying looks. Wherever I went. I needed to get away from them. When I heard that there was a chance for a rescue, I had to go. I had to feel like I could do something again, like I wasn't a..." I trailed off.

"A what?" He asked me.

"A failure."

The angry look on his face dropped, and he grabbed my hand. "Rain, you are anything but. Ya had the guts to do something that only Rick did too. Ya took care of it. Ya weren't a failure. That little girl didn't die because of ya, it was just a stupid accident. And if she's looking down on ya right now, she don't want ya to feel like this."

"I deserved it, for everything I've ever done," I mumbled.

"No Rain," he started, rubbing the back of my hand. "Ya deserve to be happy. I don't know what ya did before and that don't matter now, All that matters is what I've seen. You care about everyone here, I see it. For some reason, I think ya picked me to care about most." I smiled at that, he was right. "Ya might be accident prone, but it's gettin kinda fun, stitchin ya up." Again I smiled. "You are the best person this group has, ya have a huge heart, a way of saying things to make people love ya, everyone here does." I tried to look away from him but he grabbed my chin, forcing me to be on his level and look him in the eyes. My heart began to pick up the pace, and I was sure that Daryl saw the redness going to my face. "Ya mean everything to these people, ya really are the heart of the group, even if ya don't think ya mean anything. Ya mean the world to them. To me. I don't know what I woulda done if ya didn't come back," he muttered the last part.

I noticed that his eyes had dropped, and I rested my hand on his knee. "Thank you, Daryl." I smiled at him and he gave me a small smile back. I didn't know what came over me in that moment, but I did something unexpected. I kissed Daryl Dixon. And something unexpected happened to me. Daryl Dixon kissed me back.

A/N: And there it is! The big kiss! Now don't think that just because it happened, the relationship is smooth sailing from here, because it's not. Neither one is really used to relationships so it's still gonna take time to get there, but there was obviously a big jump in the relationship. As always, thank you to **PoisonPen19 **for the favorite! Anyways, I hope you guys liked it and as always, please review! It helps me write better! And of course I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! -A


	18. Fun Times

I didn't know what had come over me in that moment, but I was glad it did. Daryl's lip were soft but chapped. I could tell that he was nervous, hell I felt his hand shaking on my thigh. The haze in my brain slowly began to fade and I came back into reality. What had I done?! Daryl hadn't been expecting that and I'd basically attacked him. Pulling back I nearly gave myself whiplash. Daryl gave me a confused, but concerned look. "I uh- I'm- I- that uh- I'm sorry. I- I didn't uh mean for that. It was uh just in the moment and I uh- I'll just go." I jumped up to go, forgetting about my knee. Yelping in pain, I began to fall to the floor when Daryl caught me around my waist, helping me back to the cot. I couldn't manage to bring myself to look him in the eye.

"You OK?" He asked.

"Uh yea, I just forgot about my leg. Look Daryl, about that, I'm so-" Daryl cut me off though before I could finish.

"Rain, don't apologize. It's OK. Look, just stay here for the night, it's late and we'll be stumbling all over each other trying to get you back to your tent."

I was surprised that that was all that had come of the kiss. Maybe he kissed back out of instinct. I merely nodded and laid back on his cot. "You know, this is your bed, I can take the floor Daryl."

"Nah girl, you're injured, you take the cot."

"Thanks," I mumbled, turning on my side and closing my eyes. I was about 9000 percent done with this day. I was just about asleep when I heard Daryl stirring in his sleep. I looked over to him. He was reaching around him, seemingly trying to find something.

I was about to wake him up when I heard him mumble out a low, "I'm sorry." With that, his movement stopped and I fell back onto the cot. As I was falling asleep, I had one thought, what was he sorry for?

I woke up the next morning to Daryl shaking me, "c'mon, they're talkin to Randall. We should go." I nodded and allowed him to slip an arm around my waist helping me limp to the front of the house. I saw that the group was keeping Randall in the barn so we headed there and heard Rick speaking to him with Shane.

"Sounds like an argument, we might wanna stay out of that," I told Daryl. He nodded at me.

"I'm gonna head out, try for a hunt. The meat you got us lasted a while but we're running low now, I need to get some more. And no, you can't come. You can barely stand. You should go to Dale or someone. Have him maybe clean out that wound, don't want it getting infected."

I nodded at Daryl and allowed him to help me over to the Winnebago. As I was about to walk into the RV I turned back to Daryl, "hey Daryl! Be careful out there, seems like lately we're both pretty accident prone." I winked at him and I saw a slight smile on his face before he turned away from me and headed to the woods. I turned back to the RV and pushed the door open slightly, limping inside.

Dale turned to me and smiled, "Rain! I had heard you were injured. Here, take a seat, I'll take a look at it. You slept through breakfast by the way. No worries though, we have a breakfast bar or something though." Dale dug through the cabinets and pulled out a granola bar, tossing it to me. "Not very good, but it's better than nothing."

"It's fine Dale, thank you."

Dale turned back to me and gave me a suspicious look. "Rain, I may not have had any kids of my own, but I can tell when something's bothering them. What is it?"

"It's nothing, just me being stupid," I told him.

"Let me take a wild guess and say it has something to do with Daryl," Dale said. I looked up at him, surprised that he had said anything about Daryl. Dale laughed at the look on my face, "Rain, anyone with half a brain can tell that you two care about each other. You both may have started out with a rocky relationship, but we can all see lately that there's something with you two."

"Wait what? Something with us?" I asked.

"Love dear. I see it in the way you look at him and he looks at you. It's the way I used to look at my wife. Whether you know it or not, something is developing between you two."

Love? Was that really what it was? I had never been in love before. I mean, I had loved my mother and father at one point but that wasn't the same thing as romantic love. I knew for a fact that I had never been romantically in love with someone. Those had been more of infatuations. I looked up at Dale, he had plenty of life experience, maybe he would be able to help me. "Dale? I uh- I sort of um kissed Daryl last night. It was weird, I got this weird feeling. But anyways, he actually kissed me back. I mean, he kinda spilled his heart out to me and I just did it. What does that mean? I mean, I apologized to him for it, but he just kept telling me that it was OK, and we just kind of went back to normal. So what now? He can't love me, can he?"

Dale smiled at me, shaking his head and laughing. "Rain, that man loves you so much, it's painful to watch. And I know that you love him as well. I can tell though that you both haven't had much luck perhaps in the romance department. But my dear, he's scared. You have to give him time."

"So what? I wait for him to come to me?"

"Maybe, but it wouldn't hurt to nudge him along," he winked at me and went to the door of the RV.

"Wait! What does that mean?" I asked Dale. He merely laughed before stepping out of the RV. I rolled my eyes and looked down at my leg. I had been so busy thinking about Daryl that I hadn't even noticed Dale fixing my leg. Inhaling my granola bar, I threw out my wrapper and took my leave of the RV.

I started across the yard, my thoughts completely engulfed in Daryl when I ran into Glenn. Literally. I fell off balance and hit the ground with an "oof!"

"Oh my God! Rain! I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention," he told me, helping me up. I brushed myself off and smiled at him.

"It's OK, thinking about Maggie? I wasn't really all there either. Didn't even see you," I laughed. Glenn nodded at me.

"I was a huge coward out there and I'm embarrassed to even be around her now," he sighed. "But anyways, what were you thinking about?"

I sighed and mumbled out, "Daryl."

Glenn laughed at me, "yea I figured. Dale said that I should find you and ask what was going on." Damn it Dale, I'm gonna kill you. "So what happened? I saw him pick you up and then the two of you disappeared until this morning." Glenn gave me an odd look and I cocked my head to the side.

"What are you- Oh! No! God no! No! He just helped stitch me up, I slept on his cot- he was on the floor- and he woke me up this morning, sent me to Dale to get my leg sanitized. Nothing else," I told Glenn.

"Hmm... I believe you. But what really happened? I know you're leaving a part out Rain, I know you better than you think," he told me.

"You know, I know you pretty well too Glenn," I laughed.

"Maybe, but this is about you right now," he smiled at me.

"Well uh- I kissed Daryl, and he uh, kissed me back," I stuttered.

"I'll be damned, I was actually right," Glenn muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh! Well uh- we all kind of had a uh bet going," Glenn stammered, looking away from me. "It was me, Dale, T-Dog,Rick, Lori, and Carol, we were all betting on when you two would uh- get together."

"And," I grit out between my teeth, "what were the bets?"

"Well, I thought that it would be here at the farm, Dale had thought that it would be back at the quarry, T-Dog didn't think it would happen for a while- neither did Lori- but they both thought that it would happen, Carol thought that it would be right after he got shot, and Rick uh thought it would be while you two were out on a camping trip one day," he told me with a guilty look on his face.

"When were these bets made?"

"We uh started them at the quarry and they've just kept going," he told me, stepping back as I advanced on him.

"Mm-hmm. You better run Glenn Rhee! I may have a bullet wound but that doesn't mean that I won't catch you!" Glenn took off in a dead sprint, and I followed, running toward the house. I was trailing just a bit when I sprinted/limped past Lori who was with Carl.

"What happened?" She called as I came up on her.

"The bet!" I shouted. Her face went pale as a sheet. I stopped next to her and looked at Carl, "hey Carl, want to help me kill Glenn?" I smiled at the young boy. He smiled back at me and nodded. I pulled him along with me and sent him after the young Asian. Carl and I both ran in a circle, going opposite directions, cutting off Glenn. "Go Carl!" I shouted to the kid. He laughed and ran after our friend, knocking him onto the ground. I smiled as the pair wrestled for a moment before Carl crawled off of his Glenn, and walked over to me giving me a hug. I was surprised at first, but I hugged him back.

"That was fun!" He yelled.

I laughed and smiled at him, he deserved to have fun like this every once and a while. "Hey Carl, wanna learn how to do a handstand?"

The boy smiled wide at me, "yeah!"

I smiled at Carl, "so you stand straight up with your feet a tiny bit apart, you take a big step forward with your dominant leg, make sure you keep straight, if you step to the side, you'll twist and it'll mess you up, and raise your arms. As you step, let your body tip over your lunged leg like a see-saw. Hold your arms straight and move your head toward the ground. Move with a bit of force forward over your lunged leg. This is gonna balance you, gravity will actually help here. Keep your arms straight as you go to the ground, keep your shoulders tight toward your neck. As you go up, straighten your legs and torso toward the sky, keep your legs together and balance your weight on your hands. Got it," I asked, laughing because I knew that he hadn't.

He looked at me with a worried look, and I smiled. "I'll show you." I walked a but away from everyone and quickly went into a perfect handstand. Everyone that had gathered around were clapping. Dale, Lori, Carl, T-Dog, Glenn, Carol, Maggie, Hershel, Patricia, and even Andrea were out and smiling at me.

"Cool!" Carl laughed at me. I began to walk around slightly on my hands to the astonishment of the group.

"Damn girl," T-Dog laughed.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Lori asked.

"Eh I've always been flexible but I was in gymnastics for years, this was one of my favorite things to do. I would walk around the house for hours like this when I was little. It used to make my mom so mad, she said that that was why I was so crazy, all the blood would rush to my head and never go back down."

The group laughed and I heard Glenn mumble to Maggie, "flexible huh? I'm sure Daryl will love that."

"I'll still kill you Glenn!" He looked up at me, surprised that I'd heard him, and Maggie slapped him over the back of his head. I laughed and called out "thanks Maggie!" The brunette laughed and winked at me.

I began to walk in circles on my hands and turning around, I saw Daryl walking towards us, a belt of squirrels strapped to him.

"Thank you Daryl, I'll take those," Lori said to him. Daryl tossed over the belt to her, which she easily caught.

"What the hell are you doing girl?" Daryl asked walking up to me.

"Showing off my astounding balance," I gloated. Daryl humphed and pushed my non injured leg over. "WAH! Daryl!" I attempted to tuck into a roll but it was too late, I went sprawling into the grass. Spitting out a bit of dirt, I looked up to see Daryl laughing and the rest of the group trying to stifle theirs. I grunted, if he wants to play it that way, I can play right back. I swept my leg up and under his legs, making him fall right beside me. He grunted and hit the ground. "Asshole, you deserved that," I told him, laughing at his shocked face. Daryl pushed himself up, and grabbed my arm, pulling me up. "So anyways Carl, just like that, except maybe not the landing."

He laughed and went to do one before turning to me. "Here, I'll spot you. When you go up, I'll catch your legs and steady you." Carl nodded at me and quickly went into a handstand. He had gone up a little too fast and slightly to the side, but I easily caught him. "OK, I've got you steadied, now I'm going to let go. If you feel yourself falling, just move to the opposite side to steady yourself. Ready?"

"Yea," he called up to me. I let go of his legs and watched as he swayed a bit, but steadied himself.

"You've got it!" I called to him.

"Good job baby," Lori praised her son.

"Whoa!" I saw Carl begin to lose his balance and I rushed to catch him, but I was too late. He went down, but bounced right back up. "That was awesome! Thanks Rain!" Carl ran back out and continued attempting his handstands, having a harder time keeping up without me there to catch him. Glenn and Lori however, went to help him steady himself. Carol and Dale were laughing seemingly reminiscing on old life, T-Dog was giving if a try as well, Andrea laughing at his failures. Patricia and Hershel laughed as they teased Maggie about her brief stint as a gymnast when she was younger; I could see the big smile on Glenn's face as he listened in.

I laughed as I watched the entire group having a blast in the yard, flopping down onto the grass, watching everyone. I smiled at everyone having a good time as Daryl sat down next to me.

"So a good hunting trip?" I asked.

"Yea but it looks like I missed the fun," he said, laughing.

"Carl, and not just him, no one gets to have fun anymore. Now we just focus on surviving all the time, I thought that we should all have a day to just have fun, Especially since Shane and Rick aren't here. No one to tell us to get back to work, unless you wanna take over the lead fun sucker role?" I asked nudging him with my shoulder.

He laughed and nudged me back, "I think I'll leave that to them." I smiled and we sat watching everyone else in silence. We had just been watching for a few minutes when he leaned over to me, putting his mouth close to my ear. "I told you that you were the heart to this group."

I nodded, finally understanding what he was saying. I sighed contentedly and leaned my head on his shoulder. He still tensed at my touch but he slowly relaxed, putting an arm behind me, letting it just barely touch my back. I smiled and watched the group screw around, letting my mind wander. If only this is what life could be like every day.

A/N: So obviously the majority of this episode takes place with Shane and Rick, dumping off Randall. I figured that since there wasn't much I had to do with this episode of the show, why not make it a bit more lighthearted? There's plenty of hard times coming up so I thought let's make this chapter a bit happier. I hope you liked the filler chapter! As always thank you for the follows and favorites from **LainnieMorris**, and **WolfBaneFlower**. Anyways, please review, it really helps my writing! -A


	19. Randall

We had all been sitting in the yard, laughing and socializing with each other for about an hour when Rick and Shane pulled up, pulling Randall out of the trunk. What the hell? I had thought that they were dropping him off 18 miles away from the farm. He was back? Why? I didn't really want to ask any questions though, they both looked incredibly pissed. What had happened out there?

"Daryl! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Rick asked, coming up to us. Daryl nodded and stood up, helping me up with him. "I need you to go in there, get some answers out of Randall." I knew immediately what he was asking, to beat the answers out of Randall. Daryl looked at me and I gave a long sigh, but nodded. We needed to know what to expect if these men came looking for Randall.

"Sure, lets go." Daryl patted my back and left toward the barn. I sighed, moving off to the rest of the group, where I tried to help Carl, who was now attempting a cartwheel. As hard as I tried to concentrate on the happy atmosphere, my mind kept wandering back to what was going on it that barn.

In the Barn

I'd been questioning Randall for about 10 minutes now and I'd still hardly gotten anything. I leaned down in front of the kid again and grabbed him by the collar. "I told you-" he yelled to me before I cut him off.

"You told me shit!" I spat in his face.

"I barely knew those guys. I met 'em on the road," he told me.

"How many in your group?" I asked.

"Uh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." I swung at Randall again, and he sucked in a quick breath. "Come on, man," he pleaded with me.

"How many?!" I yelled again, shaking him.

"Uh, 30- 30!" He finally told me.

"Where?' I asked. They couldn't be anywhere near us, I'd never seen them on a hunting trip.

"Uh I don't know. I swear. We were never anyplace more than a night."

"Scouting? Planning on staying local?" I asked. Let's hope not.

"I- I don't know. They- they left me behind," the kid stuttered.

"Did you ever pick off a scab?" I asked, trying to intimidate the kid.

"Come on, man! I'm-I'm trying to cooperate." It was obviously working.

"Start real slow at first."

"No," he pleaded.

"Sooner or later, you've just gotta rip it off." I knew he was about to crack.

"Okay. Okay. They have weapons- Heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything," the kid told me.

"Your boys shot at my boys, and hell- a girl too. Tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride? You're trying to tell me you're innocent?" I asked him.

"Yes! These- these people took me in. Not just guys- A whole group of 'em. Men and women, kids too- Just like you people. Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But we go out, scavenge- Just the men. One night, we- we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters- Teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute. Their daddy had to watch while these guys- they- And they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just- They just made him watch as his daughters- They just-just- just left him there. No, but-but- but I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't to- Please. Please. You gotta believe me, man. I'm not like that. I ain't like that. Please. Please, you gotta believe me." I had been pacing back and forth through the kids entire speech and I was now fuming at his little story. I ran back to the kid, and punched as hard as I could, at his nose. I heard the crack and was genuinely surprised when it didn't knock him out. I could definitely see the stars in his eyes.

I went to tell Rick what I had learned when the kid called out, "hey! You want my advice? Leave while you can, your girlfriend's pretty, and you won't like what they do to her. She'll get it the worst." I had to clench my fists to keep from killing the kid right there, so I stormed out of the barn. No way in hell, those men wouldn't come anywhere near this camp. And if any of them even thought to lay a hand on Rain, well they wouldn't like what I'd do to them. No one would ever hurt Rain, over my dead body.

Back Outside

Daryl had just walked outside, and by the looks of it, he was fuming. He strutted over to where he had left Rick and I earlier, and the rest of the group came walking up. I was about to ask what had happened when I looked down at his hands. His knuckles were covered in blood. He had beaten the answers out of Randall. Literally.

"So, what you gonna do?" Daryl asked Rick as he approached us.

"We'd all feel better if we knew the plan," Lori said.

"Is there a plan? We gonna keep him here?" Andrea asked.

"We'll know soon enough," Rick said, looking to Daryl.

"Boy there's got a gang, 30 men. They have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna- They're gonna wish they were," Daryl gave me a long, sidelong glance, and I couldn't but gag at the thought of that. I wasn't planning on that happening, especially if the men were anything like Dave and Tony.

"What did you do?" Carol asked Daryl.

"Had a little chat," he told her. I could see Carol look him over, and her eyes go wide when they saw his hands. Carol quickly looked to me but I shrugged my shoulders, motioning to my leg with my eyes. Sorry Carol, but this guy shot me. I'm not playing nice with this.

"No one goes near this guy," Rick ground out, shaking his head.

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked her husband.

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat," Rick said. So apparently it was finally decided. After all this debating, Randall will die.

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked.

"It's settled. I'll do it today," Rick grumbled.

"You can't do this. You don't wanna do this. I know you don't."

"I thought about it all night. Knowing what we know now, I don't see a way out of it."

"But you can't just decide on your own to take someone's life," Dale pleaded.

"The group seemed supportive," Rick said, motioning to us.

"What, because they didn't speak back? You didn't let 'em. There's gotta be a- a process." No come on, we just came to a decision. Let's not draw this out.

"And what would that be? We can't call witnesses, go before a judge," Rick said.

"So he's automatically guilty by association and sentenced to death? He's just a kid." I believe he's 19 Dale, that's not a kid anymore. Even in our old society, he's an adult, and would be tried as one.

"Gimme some time to talk to everyone. We can't-" Rick tried to tell Dale, however he was cut off by Dale again.

"Try to figure out another way-"

"No, we can't drag this out! People are scared," Rick yelled. Clearly he wanted this dealt with as soon as possible.

"Which is why they need time to discuss this," Dale attempted to reason with Rick.

"No, no, no, they need to be safe. I owe 'em that," Rick said. I felt bad for the man, he had no idea what to do and he felt like no matter what, he would upset someone.

"You think about your son! The message that you're giving him- Shoot first, think later. I'm asking for one day to talk to everybody. You can give me that. Think- think about Carl," Dale said. For a minute I thought he was right. Rick was being more of a leader than he was a father to Carl.

"I am. We reconvene at sunset, then what happens, happens." Rick walked away, dropping his head, Lori following him. I sighed and turned around, heading to the camp, Daryl a pace behind me. He came up to my side, and somehow, my feet automatically led me to his campsite. It had almost become habit for me to go there. I sat down on the log he had in front of his fire pit, and a moment later, he plopped down next to me.

We sat in silence for a moment before I looked over at Daryl, "what do you think is gonna happen with Randall?" I asked him. Daryl looked up at me and shrugged his shoulders.

"They'll kill him," Daryl mumbled.

"You really think that?" I asked him.

"Yea, Dale's the only one who don't wanna see the boy get killed and shit, we shouldn't have him walking around us. Said as I was leavin, I wouldn't like what they'd do to you, that they'd make it the worst on you. I ain't lettin nothin happen to you, or shit, anyone else in this group. 'Cept maybe Shane. Over my dead body."

I smiled slightly and was about to ask him how exactly he'd gotten the answers out of Randall, when Daryl growled out "what the hell is it now?" I looked up and saw that Dale was walking over to us.

"The whole point of me coming up here is to get away from you people," Daryl snapped at Dale, as the older man came to a stop right in front of us. Daryl picked up an arrow and his whetstone beginning to sharpen his arrows in an attempt to avoid Dale's conversation.

"Gonna take more than that," Dale told him.

"Carol send you?" Daryl asked.

"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group," Dale told him. I knew what he meant, Daryl was slowly becoming a leader figure to the rest of the group.

"Oh, man, I don't need my head shrunk. This group's broken. I'm better off fending for myself," Daryl snapped. Gee, thanks buddy.

"You act like you don't care," Dale said, incredulous.

"Yeah, it's 'cause I don't," Daryl snapped again.

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?" Dale asked, shrugging his shoulders. He seemed to think that Daryl somewhere deep down, he cared. Nah Dale, he really doesn't care, sorry to burst your bubble. Most everyone in the camp just wants the Randall situation out of their minds.

"Nope."

"Then why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other?"

"Didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch," Daryl said. God Daryl, think you could be any more harsh?

"Your opinion makes a difference," Dale tried with Daryl.

"Man, ain't nobody looking at me for nothing," Daryl told the older man.

"Carol is, and I am, I'm sure Rain does as well," Dale said, motioning to me. Daryl quickly looked at me, but shook his head. Oh no, don't drag me into this. But he was right, I did look to Daryl for certain things.

"Right now," Daryl muttered.

"And you obviously- You have Rick's ear." Dale was right on that matter.

"Rick just looks to Shane. Let him." For now. Rick will eventually see what kind of person Shane is, and I can only imagine what will happen when that day comes.

"You cared about what happened to Sophia. Cared what it meant to the group. Torturing people? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane- He's different. Rain, come on." Daryl laughed and blew air out of his nose.

"Dale I'm sorry but I think Randall might have been the one that shot me. And I really have no desire to be anywhere around these men, hell I met 2 of 'em and didn't get a great impression from either one," I told Dale, shaking my head.

"And why's that about Shane? 'Cause he killed Otis?" Daryl asked.

Dale's eyed widened. "He tell you that?"

"He told some story- How Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's 'cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said- Group's broken." Dale merely shook his head and left the small campsite. When he was finally out of earshot, I turned to Daryl.

"Did you really mean that? About the group being broken?" I asked Daryl.

"Yea, no one knows what to do with a problem we coulda solved from the beginning. Everyone's fighting too, relationships here are going down the drain, fast. You gotta be able to see that."

"I do, but this group is strong. We made it this far, I know that we can keep on," I told him. Daryl just sighed in response. Rolling my eyes, I stood up, pulling off me long sleeve shirt, leaving me in a thin tank top. I laid down in the grass, closing my eyes.

"The hell are you doing girl?" Daryl asked me.

"Getting some sun. I plan on enjoying the sun for as long as I can before the damn cold takes over." Daryl scoffed at me but I ignored him, crossing my legs and zoning out. I didn't know how long I'd been out for when I came back too. I looked up and saw that Daryl was still sharpening his arrows, but the sun looked like it would be sinking soon.

"Hey Daryl? I was just thinking, you know a little bit about me, and I know a tiny bit about you, but other than that we really don't know anything about each other."

"Well? What did you wanna know?" He asked me.

"Umm, what's your favorite color?" I asked him. Oh, great question Rain. That didn't just make you sound like a complete moron or anything.

He laughed but answered me anyways, "green. What about you?"

I smiled at him, "purple. OK so what-" I started before Daryl cut me off.

"Oh no girl, it's my turn. What were you doing when this all went down?"

I thought for a minute and looked at him, "I was finishing my last paper when this news alert popped up on the screen. It was the Secretary of Defense and I ignored it at first but then I heard the screaming. I looked out my window and saw what was happening. Grabbed my stuff but waited a few days, finally went out and headed to Atlanta, you know the rest. What about you?"

"I was in a bar with Merle. Saw that same warning and we hopped in the truck and left. Went back home and got our stuff heading for Atlanta, got caught in a traffic jam and that's where we met up with Glenn and T-Dog."

"OK, what were you doing work wise before this?"

He seemed to think for a minute when he finally answered. "Didn't really do anything, where Merle went, I went. I mean, I fixed up bikes for a while, Harley's were my favorite. Loved doing that, where you working too?"

"Since I left home when I was 14, I worked at a gun range. Loved guns growing up, must've got that from my dad," I laughed.

"Makes sense. Gotta live somehow. How about sports? Do anything growing up?"

I laughed, "oh yeah. I did a lot. The first thing I tried to do was figure skating, we quickly learned that I had no balance on ice, and I never would. After that, it was gymnastics, I loved that. Did it for about 4 and a half years, when my instructor moved, I stopped after that. Right after that, my dad enrolled me in MMA fighting. I did that for about 2 and a half years before my mom found out and pulled me out of it. Of course, I still did it behind her back. Then when I was 10, I started dance and I was in that until I was 14 when, well, all that went down."

"Damn girl, you did everything. I didn't really do anything, just ran around the woods, we lived right in the middle of 'em. The woods were my escape. And when Merle was here, he would take me out into the woods and teach me survival skills. One of the few good things that he ever did for me growing up."

"Well then, I've told you about my family, how about yours?" I asked Daryl. I saw the reluctance in his eyes, but he eventually opened his mouth, when a call came from the yard.

"Daryl, Rain! It's time to make the decision!" Lori called out to us.

"Ugh really?!" Daryl laughed, and pulled me up off of the ground. "Don't think you're done with this conversation mister. You still owe me an answer," I told him, nudging Daryl in the shoulder. We made our way up to the house and into the living room. I was shocked to see that literally everyone was in there.

"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Lori asked.

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked.

"How about majority rules" Lori put in again.

"Well, let's- let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options," Rick said, clearly uncomfortable.

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward," Shane spoke up.

"Killing him, right? I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing," Dale snapped at the group.

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know," Rick told the older man.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group- Maybe just me and Glenn," Dale said motioning to the young Asian.

"Look, I- I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this-" Glenn started, before Dale cut him off.

"They've got you scared."

"He's not one of us," Rick said.

"And we've- we've lost too many people already," Glenn stuttered.

"How about you? Do you agree with this?" Dale asked Andrea. She looked incredibly conflicted.

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Andrea asked.

"Just another mouth to feed. It may be a lean winter," Daryl spoke up.

"We could ration better," Andrea suggested.

"I don't think so, Daryl and I are the hunters. There's barely enough food coming up as is, the weather is getting colder and the animals are all going to be going into hibernation soon. We are barely able to keep up with the people we have now in the warmer weather, I'm sorry, but it's too hard. We'd have to be going on runs more often and that's risking our people," I said. There was no way Daryl and +I would be able to keep up another persons mouth to feed.

"Well, he could be an asset," Dale said. "Give him a chance to prove himself."

"Put him to work?" Andrea asked.

"We're not letting him walk around," Rick said.

"We could put an escort on him," Andrea suggested.

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Rick asked.

"I will," Dale immediately jumped in.

"Hey guys, let's not forget. This guy shot me, I don't really like him walking around where we live and sleep," I put in.

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy. And Rain's right, he shot her. Who's to say the same wouldn't happen if we let him off by himself," Rick said.

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up," Lori said.

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor. Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men," Rick tried to explain the worst case scenario.

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope," Dale sighed.

"Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization," Rick said.

"Oh, my God," Dale sighed.

"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked.

"You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down," Lori said, looking to Rick. The couple was having issues but I could tell that Lori did not want to lose Rick.

"Y-you could get lost," Glenn added.

"Or get ambushed," Shane said.

"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk for him," I said.

"If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?" Andrea asked.

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck," T-Dog put in.

"I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane," Rick said.

"And what about the body? Do we bury him?" Glenn asked.

"Hold on, hold on! You're talking about this like it's already decided," Dale sighed. What more is there to talk about Dale? It's too risky to let Dale stay here.

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles," Rick said.

"You just wanna go around in circles again? This is a young man's life, and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation! Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?" Dale asked us. They pushed us to this Dale.

"We all know what needs to be done," Shane snapped.

"No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here." Rick said. "We have a responsibility-" he started when Shane cut him off.

"So what's the other solution?"

"Let Rick finish," Lori told Shane.

"We haven't come up with a single viable option yet," Andrea groaned.

"I wish we could," Rick sighed.

"So let's work on it!" Dale yelled.

"We are."

"Stop it. Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide- Either of you, both of you- But leave me out," Carol spoke up.

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself- There's no difference," Dale told her. Carol sighed, and walked out of the living room into the kitchen. I couldn't blame her, this was getting ridiculous.

"All right, that's enough. Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance," Rick said, knowing that Dale would speak up.

"You once said that we don't kill the living," Dale said.

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us," Rick defended. Good point.

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were- the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's Harsh. It's- it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in, and I don't- and I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?" Dale asked, looking around.

"He's right. We should try to find another way," Andrea spoke up.

"Anybody else?" Rick asked. As expected, no one spoke up.

"Are y'all gonna watch, too? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. Well I won't be a party to it. This group is broken," Dale said, before storming out of the house.

"Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Wait, wait," Rick tried but Dale didn't stop. "Well it's settled then," Rick sighed. "I'll go do it."

"You'll need help," Shane spoke up.

"I'll go too," T-Dog said.

"Yeah, me too," Daryl sighed.

"Count me in, I feel like I should be there too," I said. Rick sighed but led us out of the house and into the barn. Shane and T-Dog stood on either side or Randall and pulled him out of handcuffs, bringing him to Rick and shoving him onto his knees.

"Put him there," Rick pointed.

"Oh, hey-hey!" Randall yelled at the man handling.

"It's all gonna be over soon," Rick tried to soothe the kid.

"What? What's gonna be over soon?" Randall asked, now in a panic. Rick pulled out his gun and aimed it at Randall. I could see the fear seep into Randall's eyes as he stared down the barrel of Rick's gun.

"Relax," Rick told the boy.

"Hey- hey. No, no, no, no," Randall began to cry. I almost felt bad for the kid until I remembered that he had shot me.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh," Rick shushed the boy.

"No," Randall begged.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh."

"Oh, no no," Randall cried.

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked.

"Oh, no, please. Ple- Ah-ah-ah," Randall sobbed even harder.

"Do you have any final words?" Rick asked Randall.

"No, please. Please don't. Don't," Randall begged.

"Do it, dad. Do it," I heard Carl's voice behind me. I whipped around and saw the boy standing there.

"Carl! What the hell are you doing here?!" I hissed at the boy.

"Are you kidding me? What'd I say to you? What did I say to you?" Rick hissed at his son. "Take him away. Take him away. Get up," Rick growled to the men. Shane and T-Dog quickly strung Randall back up to the pipe.

"Ah. Ah," Randall cried, now that he knew he would survive for at least a while longer.

"We're keeping him in custody, for now," Rick told the group as we walked out. Him, pushing his son along in front.

"I'm gonna find Dale," Andrea said before running off.

"Carl, go inside. Now, please," Rick told his son. Carl stomped into the house. "He followed us. He wanted to watch. I couldn't," Rick told his wife.

"That's okay. That's okay," Lori consoled her husband.

We were all headed back up to the house when we heard a lone shot sound from the field. What the hell was that? Oh God. Dale. Something's wrong.

"What happened?" Lori asked.

"Come here. Come here," Rick told Glenn.

"T-dog, get a shotgun now!" Rick yelled to the man. He nodded and ran to get the gun. Rick turned back to his wife, "I want you to go in the house, I want you to lock the door and I want you to stay inside."

"Okay, okay," she said, guiding the Greene's and women into the house.

"What was that? What happened?" Glenn asked.

"I don't know-" Rick said as we heard a scream. At the sound of the scream, I took off in a dead sprint into the yard.

"Go!" I heard Rick shout behind me. I had finally made it to the middle of the yard when I heard Andrea screaming.

"No! Dale! Help! Over here! Help!" She shouted. I ran up to see Dale, whose rib cage was torn open and his guts were hanging out. I felt tears immediately spring to my eyes. No, not Dale.

"Run!" I shouted to the group.

"Hang in there, buddy," Rick said to Dale when he got to the scene.

"No Dale! No! Not you, I can't lose you, no!" I cried to the older man.

"Who is it?" T-Dog asked, as myself, Andrea, and Rick were covering Dale.

"Oh, my God," Andrea sobbed. "Oh, God."

"Rick!" I heard Shane shout.

"All right, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now," Rick told the older man, his own voice breaking.

"Dale- I- I just wanted you to know that you may not have ever had a daughter, but- but- you were like a father to me," I confessed. Dale deserved to know what I thought of him before he died.

"You- you were- my- my- ne- ew family," Dale barely managed to get out.

"Get Hershel! He needs blood. We gotta operate now. Hang on, Dale. Hang on. Listen to me. Come on- Okay, just listen to my voice. All right, please. Hershel! We need Hershel! Look at me." Rick was in a panic, and Hershel was almost to the spot we were all at.

"Dale, we're gonna help. We're here," Andrea sighed.

"Just hold on- hold on," Rick said.

"What happened?" Hershel asked, coming up on the scene.

"What can we do?" Andrea asked.

"Dale, it's gonna be okay," Rick assured the man.

"Can we move him?" Glenn asked.

"He won't make the trip. You have to do the operation here. Glenn, get back to the house." Rick was saying. He was determined to save Dale.

"Rick," Hershel said. He shook his head, and I sobbed even harder.

"No! Oh, God," I cried, knowing nothing could be done to save Dale.

"He's suffering," Andrea told Rick. "Do something! Come on."

"Oh, God," I cried as Rick brought up his pistol to Dale's head. Daryl grabbed his hand though at the last minute, taking the gun. He leaned down next to me putting the gun to Dale's head, and putting the other hand on my thigh, squeezing gently.

"I'm sorry, brother," Daryl said before squeezing the trigger. I sobbed over Dale's body when I felt Daryl wrap an arm around my waist, and he easily pulled me up. I let him lead me blindly back to his tent where he set me down on his cot and sat down in front of me, trying to get me to look at him.

"Rain, look at me," Daryl said, grabbing my face with his hands. He wiped off the tears from my eyes with the pads of his thumb, but new ones quickly formed.

"It was my fault Daryl, he died because of me. I knew I shouldn't have let him go out there. Not at night, not by himself. I could have just called him back! But I was so caught up in the Randall situation that I didn't!" I cried.

"Rain, what happened to Dale was not your fault, it was an accident. Don't blame yourself for Dale like you do Sophia. I know you blame yourself for what happened to her, neither of them were your fault," he told me, tightening his grip on my face.

"But still! I could have at least followed him out or-" I was silenced by Daryl kissing me, hard. I tensed not expecting it, but almost immediately gave in, kissing him back. After a minute of our lips moving in sync, Daryl moved one hand to the back of my neck, deepening the kiss for a while, before pulling back. I was breathing hard and fast when we pulled apart.

"Lay down, you should get some sleep," Daryl told me. I moved into his bed, pulling the sheets over me and Daryl sat down on the floor getting ready to go to bed. I caught his hand however, before he laid all the way down.

"No, please stay up here with me. Just for tonight." Daryl looked uncomfortable but after a moment he climbed into the cot anyways, pulling the sheets over his waist. I laid down on my side facing him, burying my face into his pillow, and continued to cry. Daryl moved one hand under my head and rubbed circles on my back.

I didn't know how long I laid there, crying, but it must have been for hours. Around the middle of the night, I had finally cried myself out and I was now falling asleep out of pure exhaustion when I realized; Daryl was still tracing patterns on my back. He wouldn't fall asleep until I did first.

A/N: RIP Dale. And a more protective side of Daryl here! As always, thank you to **Sophie** for her review! So I don't have much to say here other than please review! It really helps my writing! -A


	20. Losses

I woke up slowly, with a pounding headache and blurry eyes. Blinking out the dried up tears, I noticed that my vision was normal, but I was staring at something beige. Something beige that was moving. What? Slowly pulling my head back, I realized that not had I just been staring at something beige, I had been laying on top of it. That beige thing, also happened to be Daryl. I jumped slightly, my face burning a brilliant red. I looked down and noticed that one of his arms was underneath me, his hand resting on my waist, and he had me pulled tightly into him; I also had a hand laying on Daryl's chest. Grunting slightly, I moved his hand off of me and went to sit up when I realized that my bottom half was trapped. Oh what now? Looking down, I saw that our legs were tangled together, his legs had mine caught in between them. I also had one of his legs very close to where it did not belong; naturally I would do that. I awkwardly untangled myself from Daryl, and went to climb over him to quietly slip from the tent. I had one knee over him, and was currently straddling his waist. I had just raised my other leg to get out of the bed when a voice startled me, "movin a little fast there ain't we princess? Didn't think ya were ready for that?" I noticed the smirk on his face, but I paid it no mind. He had made me jump, losing my balance, and I began to fall off of the cot.

Daryl, his reflexes quick as ever, pulled himself up and grabbed my hand, but my weight had been more then he was anticipating, and I pulled him to the ground as well. I landed on my back, grunting, and in order to avoid squashing me like a bug, Daryl landed on his knees, now straddling my waist, as I had been a moment earlier. "I uh, I'm- I uh," I stuttered feeling like an idiot. Daryl had landed on his hands as well, and they were on each side of my face, and with his back bent, his head was only a few inches from mine. I tried to say something to him, but I found myself lost in his eyes. They were a beautiful, brilliant blue, and I could've stared at them forever. I smiled a shy smile at Daryl and I noticed that he was slowly lowering himself on top of me, I closed my eyes and was about to give in and kiss him when an unwanted voice snapped me from my trance. I immediately backed off and shot a surprised glare over to the owner of the voice.

"Oh! I uh- I didn't mean to interrupt, I just uh- I thought you'd like to know that uh Dale's funeral is gonna happen in a few minutes," Rick told us, his face lighting up like Christmas. I had forgotten that when we'd come into the tent last night, Daryl had never zipped the tent back up. Rick coughed awkwardly and turned, leaving Daryl's small camp and headed back to the main campsite. I couldn't help but feel slightly bad for Rick, he looked like he had wanted to die. Yea, me too.

"Rick! Wait! Nothing was going on! It was a-" I sighed knowing that Rick was out of earshot by now, and he wouldn't believe me even if he could hear me. I looked up and saw that Daryl was staring intently at me. He immediately coughed and blushed. We both broke gazes and mumbled uncomfortable apologies to each other. Daryl quickly jumped off of me and I pushed myself to my feet. I had been about to walk out of the tent when Daryl called to me.

"Rain, you uh, might wanna change that shirt before you go out there." I looked down at my shirt and noticed that it was covered in blood. Dale's blood. I nearly gagged at the sight, and I felt tears prickle my eyes at the memory of what had happened last night. I sighed, knowing damn well that I didn't have any clean clothes, they all needed to be washed. I guess I would have to buck up and just wear this.

"I don't have anything clean to wear. I was gonna wait to wash my clothes. I didn't wanna be a burden to Lori and Carol. I'll just wear this," I sighed, tugging at the hem of the shirt and turning to leave again.

Daryl sighed behind me. "You can borrow one of mine, don't want ya going out there in that, don't worry bout it." He bent down and picked up a beige top, with the sleeves clearly ripped off. I smiled at the obvious sign of Daryl, it was one of the simple things that I still enjoyed in life, the fact that he couldn't own a shirt with sleeves. Not that I minded of course, but what would he do when winter started? He tossed it to me and I easily caught it, thanking him quietly. I thought for a moment about leaving but I saw no purpose in walking back to my tent just to change. Besides, he's already seen the scars, they weren't anything new to him. After taking a deep breath, I peeled my shirt off, leaving me in my bra. I felt my face and neck heat up but I wasn't embarrassed that Daryl could see my body, rather that he could see the scars. I put my arms through the short sleeves and had been about to pull it over my head when I felt one hand on my waist, and the other in the middle of my back. He slid the hand that was on my waist up my side, over my arm, and to the shirt, pushing it off of my arms before moving back down to my waist; I knew that at the moment, I was as stiff as a board. "Don't be embarrassed, they make ya even better. Show that ya were tough enough to make it through," Daryl breathed in my ear.

I gasped slightly at his lips brushing my neck, even though I was sure that it was accidental, and dropped my head. They didn't make me brave, they were hideous. "They don't, they remind me of the worst times, when I was the lowest." I sighed and felt Daryl's hands tighten on me slightly. I felt awful, realizing that I had struck some sort of chord with him.

"No Rain, I used to think the same thing, but then I realized, they show that you didn't stoop to their level. That ya were the bigger person, and that ya were strong enough to make it through. That ya were determined to be something better." I was about to ask him how he knew all of these things so well when I realized, he was saying from experience. I bristled at the thought of someone ever laying a hand on Daryl the way that my father had, to me. I heard the rustle of clothing behind me and I blushed knowing that he had taken his shirt off. I was tempted to turn around but it felt like an invasion of privacy, and Daryl seemed like the type to want to take things slow. Extremely slow. However, a moment later, I felt Daryl's hands on my hips, as he slowly turned me to face him. The first thing I was met with was his torso, it wasn't like he had the perfect body, but he was well toned and I could see the firm muscles in his abdomen. I noticed a light freckling of scars, but none that were too bad. I couldn't help but wonder if they were from hunting accidents. He cleared his throat and my eyes quickly diverted from his chest, my face going tomato red. Daryl let out a long sigh and dropped his eyes from my face- I was surprised to see the shame that was clearly written across his face- before slowly turning, so that his back was facing me.

I had to clap my hand over my mouth to keep me from gasping. I had figured that he had scars, but they were worse than I had expected. While I most likely had more, his were worse. They were wide and most likely deep when he had gotten them. Good God, they almost looked like they had been from a whip. Or maybe a belt. I wasn't sure which. How dare someone ever lay a hand on him like that. The only thing that was good, was that these all looked well over at least 15 maybe 20 years old. I wasn't sure if he would care, but I moved my hand to the middle of his back, where he had one particularly long scar, and placed my hand on the top of it, right beside his left shoulder blade. I could feel every muscle in his body tense, but I ignored it, lightly tracing the scar down his back, to right above his waistline. I felt the small shiver that ran up his spine, and I let a bitter smile creep onto my lips. "Your dad?" I asked so quietly, I wasn't even sure that he'd heard me.

"Yeah," he muttered, to my surprise. So he had heard me. I would have thought that even if he had heard me, he would've ignored me. Before I could look at the scars any longer, Daryl turned to face me, and went to pull his shirt on. Before he could though, in a moment of boldness, I grabbed his hand and pulled the shirt from his grip, tossing it onto the bed. He looked surprised, but I ignored it. This was the chance to take things into my own hands that Dale had been talking about. Taking a small step toward him, I felt the heat radiating from his body. It was then that I noticed how tall he really was, I was staring at his chest, which I could tell he was trying to hide from me. He was ashamed of everything. It broke my heart, he was such an incredible man and he had no idea.

I grabbed his hand, and curled our fingers together. "Don't hide them, they make you even more perfect." He scoffed and looked away from me. I sighed and took one hand to push his face, forcing him to look at me. "To me," I whispered. There was only a tiny space between us, and I quickly filled it. We were standing so close that I could feel his breath fanning on my face, and the heat from the skin to skin contact. I felt my heart skip a beat when Daryl closed the space between us, and pressed his lips to my own. I gasped slightly, still not used to his new found affection, but my eyes fluttered closed and I began to kiss back with a ferocity that I hadn't felt in years. I could tell that Daryl wasn't expecting it, but he was fine to keep up with me. I smiled at the thought that it was like I was 16 again, my hormones raging out of control. But this time, I knew exactly what I was doing.

To my genuine surprise, Daryl walked us back to the cot, where he hit and fell onto the bed. He easily grabbed the back of my thighs and pulled me onto his lap, wrapping an arm around my lower back to keep me steady. I wrapped both of my arms around his neck, and deepened the kiss, which he responded to. Parting my lips slightly, I felt him do the same and I decided to test the waters. I gently ran my tongue across his lip, and after a moments hesitation, he opened his mouth. I gently slid my tongue into his mouth and we wrestled for dominance, which he won. Calming down slightly, I simply let my tongue, and his, wander. I smiled at the taste of smoke and barbeque. It was an odd taste, but it was his, and I loved it. The part of me that hadn't been satisfied like this in quite a while raged inside of me like a caged bull, and I dropped my hands to Daryl's waist, testing the waters again. I was shocked that he didn't move my hands, but I was ecstatic, so I continued to his belt. I fiddled with the buckle for a few seconds, and was about to slip it off when I heard a call from a few yards outside of the tent.

"Daryl? Rain? We're about ready to start the ceremony," Carol called from the outside. Shit! I'd been so caught up in the moment with Daryl that I'd forgotten about Dale. I vaulted off of Daryl, who immediately jumped up, right as soon as I had moved out of the way. Putting ourselves together at lightning speed, we raced out of the tent, trying to look as calm as possible and joined Carol walking over to the service.

I must have been completely flushed, as I saw the odd look Maggie was giving me. I noticed that her gaze went to Daryl, so I looked over as well. He was looking intently at the ground and his face was beet red. Maggie looked back at me cocking an eyebrow, and I blushed brightly. She gave me a questioning glance, so I mouthed 'I'll tell you later,' to which she nodded, and looked over to Glenn. Hey maybe I needed a girl friend here. Besides Carol and sometimes Lori, I was always bonding with the guys. I'd definitely have to talk to Maggie later. My thoughts slammed to a halt when I heard Rick clear his throat. I looked up, eager to hear what our leader had to say about Dale.

Rick cleared his throat again, looking nervous, but I gave him a reassuring smile. Swallowing, he shuffled for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Dale could- could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us- The truth, who we really are." I looked over to see Shane shift uncomfortably. That's right you coward, he knew all about what you did, who you really are. "In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, st feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives Our safety our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." I smiled at Rick gratefully, he was right. We would honor Dale by fixing the cracks in the group. Rick looked over at me, and I nodded.

The group had been about to disperse when Hershel called us over. "I'd like you all to come back with us to the house, if you don't mind?" Rick nodded and the group made their way to the house in silence, myself and Daryl trailing at the back. I was curious as to what Hershel was bringing us to the house to tell us, it had to be important if we were going to the house just to hear it. I sighed as we climbed up the stairs to the house and looked around, it seemed like every time that we had the group all get together, there were less and less people. Hershel stood up and cleared his throat to get our attention, "well, I've been thinkin for a while now, it's gettin colder out there, winter is right around the corner." Hershel was right, I was beginning to feel the bite in the air in the late nights. "I wanted to let you all know, that I'd like to invite you all to come live in the house, we'll manage to make due. It's about time too, I should've let you all move in a while ago." I smiled brightly at Daryl, the house was gorgeous, and now we'd be able to make a life for ourselves in it. This was the beginning of the new life we were all so fondly dreaming of.

Rick, ever the cautious member of the group, pointed out, "it'll be tight." He was right, that would be 15 people all living together under one roof. Luckily, we could make use of the living room, dining room, and offices, things that no longer were needed. We would also be doubling up, that way there was more room for those who would not be able to take the actual rooms.

"Don't worry about that," Hershel told our leader. I knew what he was thinking, the same as I was. It would be hard, but there was plenty of room in the old farm house, and we would somehow manage to make it work, we always did.

"With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up, with 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell," Andrea said quickly. I supposed she was right, with no creek to have to pass, and no mud for the walkers to get stuck in, it was much more likely that we'd be seeing more of them. It wasn't smart for us to be sleeping out in the yard, then again it was probably never the best choice- not like we'd had a better option anyways.

"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago," Hershel said, looking slightly guilty. I knew that right now, he was feeling that part of Dale's death was his own fault. Yea, I feel you buddy.

"All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors - facing out toward the road," Rick ordered. Glenn, Carol, and Lori all went to go move the cars around while Daryl, myself, T-Dog, Andrea, and Rick all ran out to the tents, breaking down our camps and gathering our gear. Daryl had head off to his tent when I noticed T-Dog walking over to me. I smiled at the man, having not talked to him in a while. I missed it, T was good to have around to cheer you up when you were having a bad day, he always knew what to say to make you laugh, he was just that kind of person.

I waved him over to me, before I ducked into my tent- well Merle's technically- and began to throw the contents onto the grass outside. "What's up T?" I asked. I backed out of the tent and went to taking the stakes out of the ground, T-Dog standing on the other side of the tent, helping me to break it down.

"You know, I was watching ya when ya came out to the funeral service and I couldn't help but notice that ya were comin out of Daryl's tent, and that you're wearing his shirt. That is his ain't it?" He asked, motioning to my torso. Oh shit! The shirt, I had forgotten about it. I blushed deeply at what T-Dog was insinuating, even though something like that might have happened had Carol not called.

"Oh no! I just I- uh- fell asleep in there last night, after the whole, you know. My shirt had blood on it this morning and he gave me one of his to borrow, just that. Nothing else happened," I told him, awkwardly smiling. T-Dog laughed and helped me pick up a few of my things still laying around, walking back to the house.

T-Dog laughed and clapped me on the back, "ya know Rain, ya do a lot of things well, but lying? That ain't one of em." I had been about to defend myself, but T pushed open the door to the house and put my stuff down in the corner, next to Daryl's things. Before I could get anything out T's face turned serious. "Something happened with him this morning, I don't know what, but something did. I won't ask what, but when you're ready to talk about it, I'm always here to lend an ear." I smiled at T-Dog, thanking him. Happily turning back to unpacking my own things, I tuned in to hear Rick directing Glenn on where to put some non perishables, or something like that.

"Just leave it there," Rick told Glenn, who grunted as he dropped the box of food. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his wrists, trying to get the kinks out of his joints. I laughed and shook my head at his dramatics.

"Need to get back to the gym there soon buddy," I prodded at Glenn, poking him in the arm.

"Shut up, Rain." He was trying to look serious, but that made it all the funnier. I laughed and soon, Glenn was laughing as well. I noticed the odd look I was getting from Daryl, so I smiled at him. He scoffed and turned away, but I saw the small smile turn up on the corners of his lips before he could turn completely away.

I heard Rick making orders so I turned around to listen. "We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines both sides of the property. T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going." T nodded and went back to unpacking. They weren't bad ideas, but we would have to start them fast. Winter was coming and we wouldn't be able to do this work in the snow.

"What about standing guard?" Glenn asked. After the Dale incident, we needed to make sure that there wasn't going to be any more stray walkers running around, and if there were, we would have people that would be ready to take them out immediately. No more having people walking blindly through the fields. It was bound to happen that someone would get attacked by a walker, just too bad it wasn't Andrea.

"I need you and Daryl on double duty," Rick told the Asian. Glenn and Daryl both nodded before Glenn picked up a box, and went to the basement door, before turning back to us.

"Gotcha. I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be," Glenn said to Rick, who nodded in response. Glenn sighed, and retreated down the stairs.

Andrea turned to Rick and asked, "what about patrols?" Uh hello genius, maybe we should figure out the house situation first before we do any of that.

"Let's get this area locked down first. After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose," Rick told her. Smart man, and this time Daryl wouldn't fight Rick like Shane must have. Rick looked to Daryl who nodded his affirmative on the plan.

"We're back to that now?" Andrea scoffed.

"It was the right plan first time around. Poor execution," Rick said, shaking his head at her.

"That's a slight understatement-" Shane started to argue when Rick cut him off. The day had been going good so far and I could tell that Rick wasn't in the mood for Shane's bullshit.

"You don't agree, but this what's happening. Swallow it- Move on," Rick snapped and I could tell that Shane was on the verge of breaking so he merely snapped back at Rick.

"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner- that's two separate things, right? You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest," he motioned over to Daryl, who was glaring daggers at Shane.

"Thank you," Rick sighed, not in the mood for any more arguing today.

Shane scoffed and turned to leave the house, calling out to Rick before he left, "you got it." Well damn, that was over-dramatic.

"I see why you're not taking Shane with you," Daryl said, turning back to Rick.

"Just know I've got no more patience where he's concerned. He's turning over a new leaf. Rain. When I'm out with Daryl, keep an eye on things around here," Rick told me. He wanted me to keep the farm under control? I guess with Shane being an ass and Daryl going with him, the leadership role fell to me. Still, I was surprised that he hadn't asked Glenn or T-Dog.

"Me?" I asked. Rick nodded to me, and I let out a small puff of air.

"Shane's got a way of letting things get out of hand, especially when he's all torqued up," Rick said to me. I assumed that he was trying to justify why he was having me watch over the group. Hey it's fine buddy, it's just that if anything happens or someone dies, it's all on me. Now I see why Rick is always so tense.

"I think we're all a bit torqued up at this point," I told Rick. I wasn't trying to defend Shane, but we really were all completely stressed out. I was just waiting to see who would be the first to break. Andrea merely scoffed at me, and I turned to glare at the older woman.

"If you're staying here permanently, he's got to understand that it's what Rick and I say, not whatever he wants," Daryl said. I turned, surprised at what he had said. I let a small smile creep onto my lips, Daryl had finally assumed his role as one of the leaders of the group.

"You've become close," Andrea pointed out to Daryl. No shit Sherlock.

"We talk," Daryl told her. I couldn't tell if they were talking about Rick or Shane.

"Then you know he's not a bad guy. He's just his own worst enemy," Rick put in. No Rick, Shane is on a slippery slope downhill, and I don't want anyone to be around him when he does finally hit rock bottom.

"You want me to babysit Shane?" Daryl asked. I couldn't help but laugh; well that was one way to put it Daryl.

Rick shook his head lightly at Daryl. "I need to make sure every time I leave the farm all hell doesn't break loose," he said. Daryl nodded, knowing that Rick only wanted to keep the group safe, and right now, Shane was jeopardizing that safety.

"Then maybe you should stop leaving," "Daryl shrugged his shoulders. I knew that Daryl only meant the best for the group.

Rick sighed deeply and looked at Daryl, "will you keep an eye on things?"

"Of course," Daryl nodded. With that, Rick moved off and I turned back to my things, picking them up, and tossing them over my shoulders. I went to find someplace to move into, when Daryl grabbed my shoulders. "There's an office in the back of the house, let's check it out." I smiled at Daryl and nodded, walking to the back of the house, trailing right behind Daryl. He kicked open the glass pane door, and we walked inside. It wasn't a huge room but it was definitely big enough for the two of us. I dropped my stuff off and looked around the room, there was a large wooden desk in the middle of the room, a large floor lamp next to the desk, and a few built in shelves. Daryl was standing over by the desk and asked me lightly, "wanna move this out of the way?" I nodded, and helped him move the desk to the corner of the room.

I had been about to start setting out the blankets and cot when Daryl turned to walk out the door, "Daryl, where are you going?" He turned back to me and smiled.

"Gonna go help move the heavier stuff downstairs," Daryl told me before smirking lightly at me. "Unless ya wanted to do somethin else?" He laughed at my face, which was slowly turning red.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Seemed to be all for it earlier," I teased. The smirk quickly dropped off of his face and embarrassment filled it- along with something else, was that hunger? Lust maybe? I laughed as he walked out of the room, grumbling to himself. I was still laughing when I began to unpack. Not even a minute later a soft knock came at the door. I turned to see Maggie standing at the door, I smiled at the woman, "come on in." I hadn't realized until the other day when I'd overheard Glenn say, Maggie was my age. 22. I smiled at Maggie, and she laughed upon seeing my shirt. I blushed deeply and stammered out "oh, well uh- my um. My shirt had blood and uh he-" Maggie laughed and cut me off.

"Nope, I wanna hear the entire thing. C'mon, I don't get to have girl talk any more, so I crave it when I see it," she told me, nudging me. I laughed lightly and sighed deeply before launching into the entire story of what had happened with Daryl, beginning with when he had brought me to his tent last night, and ending with us heading to the funeral. Well I had left out the scars, no need for anyone but the two of us to know that part. Maggie sat there for a moment, just staring at me, before she began to laugh. And not just giggle, she was in pure hysterics. I couldn't believe it! What the hell was she laughing about?! This was serious! What was I gonna do about Daryl? I had no idea what it was that he wanted or thought of me now.

"Maggie! Why the hell are you laughing?! This is so not funny!" Naturally Maggie's laughter only increased and after sitting there, dumbfounded for a few moments, I started to giggle too. I suppose my accident this morning was kind of funny, I'm sure our faces had both been priceless. It had barely been 10 seconds before the two of us were on the floor, bawling from laughing so hard. After a few minutes, the both of us calmed down, and wiping the tears from my eyes I told her, "oh man, I haven't laughed like that in forever. In fact, I don't know if I've ever laughed like that."

"That's awful, you should always have someone in your life that makes you laugh like that," she told me, before narrowing her eyes at me and getting serious. "Rain, I know you're confused with the Daryl thing, but he seems like the type that would need a real connection to do something like that. Not just a hit it and quit it kind of guy. If you ask me, I say that man loves you so much, and the fact that you don't see it is so painful. So what are you waiting for? Make the first move like I did with Glenn. Like you did today, just maybe this time, do it somewhere slightly more private," she told me, winking. I knew that the blood had rushed to my face.

I sighed at Maggie. She was right, I should make the first move, but I didn't know how to. "It's just that, Maggie, I've never had a real relationship. You know? I liked them, but that was it. The connection we shared was almost always physical. That part I can do just fine, it's just the emotional part. I have no idea how to do that." And it was true, how do I show him that I'm not only physically attracted to him, but emotionally as well?

"Rain, I think you know perfectly well how to be emotionally connected to him. I think you already are," she told me, winking once more. Ugh, why did everyone leave me with these cryptic answers?! I had been about to ask what she meant by that when Daryl came back up into the room, giving Maggie an odd look. She merely smiled and mumbled an excuse me as she slipped past him and out the door. "Oh, and it's time for dinner you 2, just thought I'd let you know."

"Let's go," I told Daryl, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room to the living room. We quickly bounded down the stairs, and just as we hit the landing, Daryl looked at me asked, "what was that about?" I smiled at Daryl and shook my head.

"Oh nothing, just having a girl to girl talk," I told him, and turned away. I heard him scoff and I couldn't help but let the small smile creep across my lips. I walked out into the main living room and saw the chaos that was ensuing with everyone moving into the house. Well damn, I hope dinner's soon. I'm starving. I went over to help Glenn who was moving a box. Helping him lift the box, I began to scheme about how to finally just get my feelings out there with Daryl.

"Just trying to-" the Asian man started when T-Dog burst into the house with wide eyes. It looked like the poor guy had just seen a ghost. He was shaking, and had light beads of sweat on his forehead. I was about to ask what was wrong when I realized something. Wait a second, wasn't he supposed to be guarding Randall? Oh God, there's only two reasons he would be in here that I could think of, and I didn't like either idea too much.

"T, what's wrong? What happened?" I asked as he tried to catch his breath. I took a deep breath myself to prepare for the awful answer that was sure to follow.

"Randall's missing," he breathed out. I heard everyone begin to murmur, out of fear and curiosity. And there it is. Fuck. What now? We had no idea where the hell he was, or if he was with anyone. I glanced around the room and noticed that everyone was present except for Shane. Of course, something was going on, and whatever it was, if Shane was involved in it, it sure as hell wasn't good.

"Missing?" Carol asked, clearly worried.

"How long's he been gone?" Hershel asked. It seemed like T-Dog was about to answer when I noticed Rick coming into the room, Lori trailing behind him.

"What's goin' on?" He asked, looking confused. T-Dog quickly explained what was going on, that Randall was missing and had been for a while, it seemed; and that we had no idea where he was. Wanting to possibly shine some light on the situation, I also put in that the only member of our group that was missing at the moment was Shane. Rick narrowed his eyes, clearly trying to weigh all the possible situations that could be happening. He loudly ordered that we all head to the barn to check it out. Myself, Glenn, Daryl, and Rick got there first, as we were the fastest in the group. Not long after though, the rest of the group appeared behind us. I went over to inspect the cuffs, and I narrowed my eyes, they were still hooked. I'd been close enough to Randall to know that he probably was small enough to slip 'em, but there was no way he would've been able to do it without cutting himself a few times, and these cuffs had absolutely no blood on them. Well a bit of dried blood, but he had to have escaped recently, the blood on these cuffs was long dried. A little but of blood, but none of it fresh. "So how the hell did he get out?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"It's hard to say. The cuffs are still hooked," Rick told me, examining the cuffs closer. No shit Rick. I briefly wondered if Shane may have let him lose, taken him out, to kill him finally. Maybe? But why re-hook the cuffs? Unless he was doing something else entirely. Ugh, one day people. One damn day I'd like to go without some new problem popping up.

"He must' slipped 'em," Daryl said. I looked over him and narrowed my eyes. He shrugged his shoulders at me and I rolled my eyes. No way, I've been in handcuffs before, and my wrists are smaller then Randall's. I couldn't even slip them. Well maybe, but it would have seriously hurt. I probably would have broken my wrists in the process too. He could have slipped them, but he would have cut himself pretty badly trying to do it. And like I said before, no blood spots anywhere.

"Is that possible?" Carol asked. Yes, possible, but hard. I had tried for a moment the one time when I was in handcuffs once and I had seriously hurt myself doing it, making no progress either.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose," Rick mumbled. True that.

"The door was secured from the outside," Andrea pointed out. That was true also, for Randall to get out, someone would have had to either not secure the door correctly, or had to have opened it for him. And as much as I hated Andrea, I knew that she was capable enough to know how to lock a door the right way.

"Rick! Rick!" I heard shouting from outside the barn. I looked up to see Shane stomping over to the barn, with blood dripping down his face. Good God, what the hell had happened to him? And don't tell me a walker got him or something, it looked more like he'd taken a hard hit. There was no way it was from Randall either, the kid was like half Shane's size, and maybe had a quarter of his strength. Something here was very, very wrong.

"What happened?" Rick asked, clearly worried for his friend. I didn't blame him, but c'mon Rick, think. Something here isn't fitting. It's like we have the one last piece of the puzzle with us, but it's for a different puzzle. OK, maybe that was a stupid analogy, but I hadn't eaten in a day.

"He's armed! He's got my gun!" Shane yelled to us, waving his arms around. Uh huh, and how exactly did he do that Shane? Aren't you a trained police officer?

"Are you okay?" Rick asked, with a slightly suspicious look in his eyes. Good, Rick was starting to see the gaps in this story as well.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." Ah, so the plot thickens. I took a step closer to Shane asking to see the wound. "No Rain, I'm fine. Thanks. That little shit is our priority." I was glad that he'd bought that I wanted to see the wound, when in reality I had been checking out around the wound for any clues to what had exactly happened. All I'd seen was a small piece of bark in what was left of his hair, right behind his ear. Unless Randall had shoved Shane into a tree, this story wasn't working out.

"All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house," Rick ordered. The two men quickly collected the rest of the group and began to usher them back into the house for safety. "Glenn, Daryl, Rain, come with us." I nodded at Rick and moved to the side of the group along with Daryl and Glenn. "T, I'm gonna need that gun." T-Dog nodded and handed Rick the small pistol. I couldn't help but notice Shane's eyes follow the gun. Hmm... What was he planning? Nothing good I bet.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Lori asked. Yes Lori, but not right out in the woods with a damn gun. We don't need the kid dragging his friends back here. They were already pretty upset with us, from the episode back at Hatlin's. I'm not too partial to seeing them again.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun," Rick snarled. I could see Lori recoil slightly, but I knew that Rick hadn't meant it to come out that way, he was just frustrated.

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen," Lori practically cried to her husband. I know but damn Lori, something way worse can happen if we don't go out there.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick yelled before pulling Shane, myself, Daryl, and Glenn towards the woods. Now it's time to get down to business. I could hear the rest of the group ushering each other back into the house as we retreated towards the woods.

"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long," Shane told us. Blacked out? Right, because that little 90 pound kid could get the jump on you Shane.

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted," Glenn tried to point out hopefully.

"And armed," Shane growled.

"So are we," Rick replied. "Can you track him?" Rick asked Daryl. Hate to burst your bubble Rick, but it's way too dark to see anything footprint wise. They just blend in with the ground right now.

"No, I don't see nothing," Daryl said, looking down at the ground, trying to examine it for prints.

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way," Shane snapped, pointing out to the woods. Why get so defensive Shane? We're just trying to find the kid. Just because he went one way, doesn't mean he wouldn't have changed his path at all.

"We need to pair up. We spread out, we just chase him down," Rick said.

"That's it. Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?" Daryl asked. I couldn't help but smile at his wording. And I was glad that he was catching onto what was happening here. So I wasn't being paranoid or crazy, this really was a fucked up situation.

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane snapped at Daryl. A rock huh? Then how'd you get fresh tree bark in your hair. Your plan's good Shane, but it had holes in it too.

"So you hit your head on a tree on the way down?" I asked Shane, narrowing my eyes. Shane had advanced slightly on me when both Rick and Daryl stepped in between us. Rick quickly intervened in the tense situation.

"Alright, knock it off. You, Rain, and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other," Rick cautioned us before we moved up into the woods. We'd been walking about 10 minutes now and I was searching everywhere for tracks or some sign of what had happened. I was getting annoyed that we hadn't come up with anything when I heard Daryl call out to us.

"There's two sets of tracks right here. Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said." I looked down and noticed that there were two sets of prints. One on top of the other.

"There's fresh blood on this tree," Glenn called out. "Rain, why did you ask him about a tree?"

"When I asked to look at the wound I was asking so I could get a look for any clues as to what had happened. There was a tiny piece of bark in the little hair he still has. And it was fresh, it came from the tree, not when he apparently passed out. I wonder if he was lying about the rock. If he injured himself. I don't know why, but I'm sure that he has some warped reason behind it."

"There's more tracks. Looks like they're walking in tandem," Daryl said, still examining the tracks. Glenn walked over and stepped directly on the tracks. Daryl glared at him, and Glenn mumbled a small sorry. Daryl shook his head and looked up at the rise in the ground.  
>"Yeah, there was a little dust up right here," he said. What was he talking about?<p>

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked, obviously as confused as I was.

"I mean something went down. It's getting weird. Had a little trouble." I was wondering how that happened. If Randall had hit Shane, sneaking up on him with the rock like he said, it would have knocked him out right there. They wouldn't have had a fight, and there wouldn't have been blood on that tree. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the growl of a walker. I turned grabbing my knife and walking up to it, when I got a look at its face.

"It's Randall," I called back, sinking my knife into his forehead. Well, at least that solves the Randall problem. Now, why had this happened? From what I saw, Randall had no visible bites and no tears in his clothes that would suggest he had been bitten under his clothes. "Well? Come on, he's not gonna bite. Anymore," I sighed, leaning down to Randall's body. I looked him up and down, and saw no bite marks. His neck, however, seemed to be badly broken. That could definitely kill someone, but why would he have become a walker if he wasn't bit?

"He's got no bites," Daryl said. I nodded, he was right. I'd felt over Randall's body twice now, there were no bite or scratch marks anywhere on him.

"Yeah, none you can see," Glenn said.

"Glenn, his neck's broken. That's the only thing that I can see what he would have died from. There are no bites or scratches anywhere on him, I checked," I told him. Glenn just shook his head, obviously not believing it. I could barely believe it either.

"No he was a walker, he had to have been bit," Glenn tried to reason. I know Glenn, I don't get it either, but there are absolutely no bites on him. How, I have no idea.

"No Glenn, she's right, he died from this," Daryl said, motioning to Randall's broken neck. Something extremely fishy was going on here. I walked over to where Daryl was kneeling and I put a hand on his shoulder.

"You guys head back to the house. Tell the others what's going on, but don't scare them. I'm gonna find Rick and Shane. I need to somehow warn Rick, something bad is about to happen, I just know it." I told them. Daryl grabbed my arm before I could walk away, and pulled me back to him.

"Rain, you be careful out there, something's up with Shane, you see any signs of trouble, you run back here. Grab us and we'll take care of it." I nodded to him, and he dropped his voice to a whisper, so that Glenn couldn't hear. The younger man turned a slight red, and walked a little away from us; thank you for taking the hint Glenn. "You don't need to go," he told me. I shook my head and argued that I had to go. "Then please, be careful. I can't lose you." I smiled lightly at him and put my hand on his cheek.

"I will, you both be careful too." I went to pull away, but before I actually did, I stood on my tip toes and gave Daryl a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and running off. I gave Glenn a pat on the shoulder as I passed him and he whispered a small good luck to me. Ducking through the bushes, I scanned the area for Rick and Shane. I was almost out to the field with no sign of them, and was about to give up when I heard movement. Looking out of the break in the trees I saw that it was Rick and Shane. Just as I was about to go out to them, I saw Shane raise his gun at Rick. Quickly pulling my own gun out, I aimed at Shane and just when I was about to fire, I heard Rick speak.

"So this is where you planned to do it?" Rick asked Shane, barely turning to look at his once best friend. I grit my teeth, I wanted to shoot him, but it was probably best if I waited to see where this conversation was going. I just had to be ready. Just in case.

Shane shrugged his shoulders, and I had to resist from pulling the trigger and ending that assholes life. How dare he take this as if it were no big deal. He was on the verge of killing his best friend, that was not a shoulder shrugging scenario. "It's a good place as any," Shane hissed at Rick. At this point Rick turned fully to Shane, and even back slightly from the scene, I could see the betrayal in Rick's eyes. It was the only thing giving away emotions, his face was stone cold.

Rick let out a bitter laugh and glared at Shane. "At least have the balls to call this what it is- Murder. You really believe if you walk back onto that farm alone- No me, no Randall-" Shane cut off his ex friend and hissed at him.

"I want you to hush up." Of course Shane, you can't really go through with this. I moved slightly closer to them, I was now only a few yards away, the tall grass was covering me. It was moments like this that I was glad that I was short. Sometimes it came in handy, suck it tall people.

"You really believe they're gonna buy whatever bullshit story you cook up?" Rick asked, the bitterness seeping in his voice. I kept a close eye on Shane, just making sure his hand wasn't getting any tighter around the trigger. I still had my gun aimed for Shane's head, just in case.

"That's just it. It ain't no story. I saw that prisoner shoot you down. I ran after him. I snapped his neck. It ain't gonna be easy, but Lori and Carl- They'll get over you. They done it before. They just gonna have to." You idiot, they never got over it. Carl and Lori were trying to be brave and they used you as their out from life, a fault on both of their parts. But Carl was just a kid and Lori was weak.

"Why? Why now? I thought we worked this all out," Rick asked. The bite had gone out of his voice and I could now hear the actual sorrow in it. The pain in his voice broke my heart.

"We tried to kill each other man. What you think? We just gonna forget about it all? We gonna ride off into the sunset together?" Kill each other? What? That must have been what happened when they went to drop Randall off the first time. I guess that explained the looks on the both of their faces when they got back. That was when it hit me, Rick knew Shane wanted to kill him. That's why he only went with Shane alone. He didn't want anyone to be around when it happened. But was Rick planning on how to kill Shane as well? What was going on in his head right now?

"You're gonna kill me in cold blood? Screw my wife? Have my children- my children- call you daddy? Is that what you want? That life won't be worth a damn. I know you. You won't be able to live with this," Rick told him. I don't know Rick, I think Shane's humanity has just about reached zero.

"What you know about what I can live with? You got no idea what I can live with, what I live with! You wanna talk about what I can do, Rick? How about what you can do?" Shane snapped at Rick. I tightened my grip, I could tell that Shane's patience had worn down, and he was ready to end this.

"Here I am," Rick said, extending his arms to his side.

"Come on, man. Raise your gun," Shane said, motioning to Rick's gun. Oh, so he did have some humanity in him. He couldn't kill his best friend when he was unarmed. He wanted a reason to kill Rick. Clever Shane, but Rick won't fall for it, he's smarter than you're crediting him for.

"No. No, I will not," Rick shook his head at Shane, who looked like he was fuming that Rick wouldn't play into his game. Instead of pulling the trigger, Shane tried to elicit an emotional response.

"What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore. Ain't that what you said? Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? I'm a better father than you, Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's 'cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. 'Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it. You come back here and you just destroy everything! You got a broken woman. You got a weak boy. You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it. Raise your gun." How dare he say that. I could tell that it had gotten to him slightly, as I saw the edge of his eye twitch; but Rick managed to keep his calm. I must admit, I was impressed that his temper was staying in check. Mine however, was not.

"You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man. Watch my hand. Nice and easy. Easy does it," Rick began to lower the gun and as he finally dropped the gun, I saw Shane's finger twitch on the trigger and he bent down to pick up Rick's gun; leaving our leader defenseless. Oh hell no, this had gone on long enough, I was putting an end to it now.

Jumping from my hiding spot, I bounded in front of Rick and raised my gun to Shane's head, who respectively had his aimed at mine. I didn't think I'd ever seen such a venomous look from someone. "Don't you dare. You take one step and I swear to God Shane, I'll blow your damn head off. What're you gonna do now? Not only will you have to kill Rick, but me too. I'm sure that they won't buy that. Neither one of us coming back, but you did," I snarled at him. I thought for a moment that Shane would shoot me where I stood, but he resisted the urge.

"Rain, go back to the house," Rick told me, gently pushing me from in front of him, off to the side with his arm. I went to step back in front of Rick but he again, kept his arm in front of me, keeping me from jumping back into Shane's line of fire.

"Listen to him, little bitch," Shane growled at me. Now fully pissed I broke past the small barrier of Rick's arm and took back my place in front of Rick, growling at Shane.

"I ain't movin, you can try to kill him, or try to kill me, but I can guarantee you that no matter what you won't walk away from this," I snapped at him. I saw something animalistic pop up in his eyes, and before things could get any worse Rick stepped around me and stood directly in front of me, blocking my view of Shane. I tried to pull Rick back, but he turned to me and gave me a pleading look. Glancing down to his belt briefly, I saw it. The glint of a knife. Rick still had a weapon, and he was about to use it to kill Shane. Smart Rick, very smart. The one part of me however, that wished he wouldn't do it, popped up. I could only imagine how damaged Rick would be after being forced to do this. To kill the man he once called his best friend. But he had to, Shane had left him no other choice.

"Now listen to me, Shane. There is still a way back from this. Nothing has happened here. We're gonna lay down our guns and we're gonna walk back to the farm. Together. Back to Lori. Back to Carl. Put this all behind us," Rick calmly told Shane, to my surprise. Maybe he wasn't going to do it. But faster than I could imagine, Rick whipped out his knife, and stabbed Shane in the heart. I jumped as Rick let the weight of Shane's body take him down. "Shh," he consoled Shane, who was quickly dying, in fact, he would probably be dead within the minute. Rick held Shane in his arms and screamed through the tears, "damn you for making me do this, Shane. This was you, not me! You did this to us! This was you, not me- not me! Not me! Son of-" Rick was screaming to Shane's dead body, and I was watching, with my hand tight on Rick's shoulder when I heard a call from behind us.

"Dad? Rain?" Oh my God, it was Carl. I turned around and saw the young boy there. Tears and fear glinting in his eyes as he looked at the dead body of Shane Walsh. Damn it, Carl had just seen not only Rick kill Shane, but me attempt to as well. What was he thinking now? In these past few minutes, how much permanent damage had we done to the young boys brain?

"Carl," I breathed out, shaking my head, trying to form words. Trying to defend myself and his father. It must have looked like we had just killed Shane in cold blood. And dear God, what the hell did Carl have a gun for? Was that Daryl's gun? Seriously Rain, c'mon this is not the time for that.

"You know- you should be back home with mom. Just- just put the- put the gun down. It's not what it seems. Please," Rick tried to beg to his son. I looked over to Rick and saw that he was shaking. Carl raised the gun, to what looked like Rick's head. No! It wasn't what it looked like!

"Carl, this had to happen. You didn't see it. Put the gun down and we can talk," I told him, extending my hand and trying to walk up to him. Hopefully I could pull the gun out of his hands before he killed Rick or myself.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait," Rick begged to his son who had put his hand on the trigger. I cringed as Rick approached his son, and let out a high pitched scream as Carl pulled the trigger. I looked up in time to see Rick jump. I glanced around and noticed that none of us were dead. What the hell? Turning around, I saw that Shane's body was closer then it had been. It was directly behind Rick now. I walked closer to it and I noticed that he had the features of a walker; and he wasn't bit. So Carl hadn't been trying to shoot Rick, he was trying to protect his father. But now Shane had become a walker too, just like Randall. How the hell was that happening?

"Oh my God," I sighed.

A/N: Hey everyone! Rot in hell Shane :). I just wanted to say thank you everyone for reading and putting up with this chapter length, over 10,000 words. Too long? Just right? Like it being more descriptive? Want more stuff just with Rain and Daryl? Or her with any other characters? I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the first scene with Rain and Daryl, or the bonding with Maggie, or the scene with Shane at the end. As always, a huge thank you to my sweet **guest reviewer**, and then the follows and favorites from **queentygress85, lynnvickers725, 0201, **and **RC Smiles**! Please review, it makes me happy! Even if it's just "update"! -A


	21. Leaving

I sighed, looking at the shocked expression on Carl's face. "Rick, we should go. Let's head back to the house. We need to tell everyone what just happened." Rick nodded at me, and the three of us took off back toward the house, Rick with his hand on Carl's back. Damn, what would we do? Would they really believe the story, it wasn't exactly an easy one.  
>At the House<p>

We'd been sitting in the dark in the woods for about 20 minutes now, waiting for a sign or something, and we were finally making our way to the farmhouse. Rain had never reported back to us, and there was still no sign or word from Rick or Shane that we'd seen. I was finally starting to get worried, where the hell was Rain? She's smart but the damn girl does tend to make rash decisions. What if she intervened on something she shouldn't have? Or worse, we'd heard a shot, what if it was for her? I shook my head to clear those thoughts, I couldn't afford to think like that. We had made it to the front steps when I heard Andrea speak, "I'm going after them." No way, she had no chance of finding them. That was the only reason I hadn't decided to go searching yet.

We were at the door when I heard Lori speak up. "Don't, they could be anywhere. And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here," she was right, we needed all the manpower we could get. But still, Rick and Shane weren't even back yet?

I slammed into the house and quickly asked, "Rick and Shane ain't back?" That was surprising. Shane had been there with Randall, woulda thought he could find him fast. Unless, Shane really did break Randall's neck, and Rain was walking into a trap, that wasn't meant to be for her.

"No," Lori said, shaking her head at me. Damn it, where the hell were the three of them?

"We heard a shot," I told them. It wasn't likely, but maybe one of them had fired it. Meaning to tell us to come back? Far fetched, but I needed to figure this out.

Lori looked at me and shrugged slightly, "maybe they found Randall." I shook my head at her.

"We found him," I told her.

She gave me an odd look and asked "is he back in the shed?"

"He's a walker," I told her.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked from the other corner of the room.

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit," Glenn put it, giving Hershel a guilty look, even though it wasn't his fault that Randall had gotten out. Especially if Shane really was the one that let him out of the barn.

"His neck was broke," I put in.

"So he fought back," Andrea added and I shook my head again at her.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together," I told the group. There was no way that Shane wasn't involved in this somehow, none of it was adding up, none of it was making sense.

Lori came up to me and put her hands together, looking like she was ready to beg. "Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" She asked me. This time I wouldn't say no, this time, the group was in immediate danger. And this time, I knew that Rain was out there with them.

"You got it," I told her.

She sighed deeply and patted my arm as she walked by me, "thank you," she breathed out. I nodded and walked to the door, ready to go hunt them down.

In the Field

We were walking for a few minutes in an awkward silence when Carl spoke up. "You bit too?" Too? Oh, that's right, he thought that Shane had been bit. He'd only seen him when he'd come back as a walker. We were going to have to explain to him that Shane hadn't been bitten, that we'd had to kill him. And that we had no idea how he had come back. Him or Randall for that matter.

Rick paused for a moment when he finally responded, "no."

"Shane was," Carl sighed, looking down at his shoes. I knew that Carl had been close to Shane, and losing him would most likely take a huge toll on Carl. I just hoped that we could figure out what was going on here before it was too late.

"That wasn't Shane. You know that," Rick sighed at his young son.

"Used to be. What happened? You guys attacked? I mean, I- I heard a gunshot, but I didn't see any walkers nearby. How did Shane die?" This was it, even though it would probably hurt to hear the truth, he needed to hear it. He needed to know that this world changes people, and a lot of people are more brash and harsh, even more violent than they used to be. Shane was one of the people that had changed.

Rick seemed to have no idea what to say, and when he finally started to talk, it didn't seem to come out easily. Putting a hand on his shoulder, I tried to say something. "Carl he wasn't-" I was cut off by a panicking Rick placing an arm on my shoulder. I looked at him to see what the problem was, and it seemed like he could barely breathe.

"Oh my God!" He hissed and I turned to look behind us. I nearly dropped my gun when I saw the sight. Only about 200 feet from us was a gigantic hoard of walkers, all headed right toward us. I looked at Rick with panic written clearly in my eyes. How in God's name would we get of this one? "Oh what the hell? What did I do to deserve this?" I mumbled, looking up to the sky.

"Go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go-go," Rick said quietly, ducking down and pushing Carl and myself towards the barn. We had sprinted as fast as we could staying as low to the ground as we could. We were a few yards from the barn when Carl and Rick stopped and I stood behind them.

"We we gotta get to the house, tell the others," Carl tried. Oh I'm pretty sure that they'll see this coming.

Rick looked to his son, "we'll never get through that."

"We can make a diversion? Distract them long enough to evacuate everyone?" I answered. Maybe we wouldn't be able to get to the house, but we could at least draw their attention to the field. They would see what was going on and know to get the hell out of here. Hopefully they wouldn't wait for us. Chances were, we wouldn't make it there in time.

"I've got an idea. Besides we can't go around. Carl, Rain, stay close," Rick said, before we ran to the barn. I narrowly avoided a female walker, jumping away, and took off in a dead sprint to the barn, leading slightly ahead of Rick and Carl. I was trying to clear a path, and so far we'd gotten lucky with the walkers. Now let's just see how long that luck runs for. We ran into the barn and quickly lifted up a wooden block, sealing off the door. I turned to look at Rick giving him a what now look. I jumped as I heard the walkers banging on the doors to the barn. God damn it, what do we do now? We're stuck here, with no way out. And it won't take long for the herd to rip those barn doors apart.

Back in the House

Myself, Andrea, and Glenn had walked outside to see hundreds of walkers headed this way. I couldn't help but think, had they gotten to Rain? Was that why she hadn't gotten back yet? I shook those thoughts from my head, no she was stronger than that, she would make it back to me. I called out to Hershel who walked onto the porch and let out a small gasp. He turned back to the house and hissed, "Go! Patricia, kill the lights." The woman turned off the lights as quickly as possible when I heard Andrea speak up.

"I'll get the guns," she said, before rushing back into the house, squeezing past Maggie who had come out to see what was happening.

"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn asked hurriedly. I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head.

I looked at her and shook my head again. "Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down," I told them. I think that it was time to leave. God, please let me find Rain before we left. I'd never be able to live with myself if I lost her out here.

"Carl's gone," Lori called, running out to the small group of us. Of course he was, you couldn't look after your kid for one damn second could you? Now we have one more missing person.

"What?" I asked, looking to her.

She was grabbing her chest and quickly babbled out to us, "he- he was upstairs. I can't find him anymore," Lori stated. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Maybe he's hiding," Glenn suggested. Somehow I really doubted that that was the case here. Kid probably went to go find his dad. Snuck out when no one was watching.

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy," Lori cried out to us.

"We're not. We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him," Carol told Lori before grabbing her hand and pulling her inside. I turned back to the remaining members of the group as Andrea came out dragging the bag of guns. We all went rifling through the guns when Maggie pulled out a rifle and handed another to Glenn. The young Asian looked at her, with a confused look.

"Maggie," he asked, slightly out of breath.

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two," she said to him.

"I got the number it's no use," I told the group.

"You can go if you want," Hershel said, loading his gun.

I cocked my eyebrows and looked at the older man. "You gonna take 'em all on?" I asked him. There was no way, we would all make it out of this, I knew that we could. We just had to keep together.

"We have guns. We have cars," Hershel said, cocking his gun.

Andrea, who was leaning down, looked up to us. "Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm," she said. What the hell, we could draw as many of them off as we wanted, but there was no way that we'd be able to take them all of off the farm. Even with as many as we drew off, there was too many. No matter what, this farm was bound to fall tonight.

I gave Hershel a skeptical look and asked, "are you serious?"

"This is my farm. I'll die here," the older man told me. Well fine then, so it seemed that we would be defending the farm, even though I was pretty sure almost everyone knew it wouldn't work.

"All right. It's as good a night as any," I said, hopping over the railing and heading to Merle's old bike. I revved the engine and headed off into the yard, bound and determined to find Rain.

At the Barn

We burst through the small doors that led to the stable, and with gas canisters in hand, Rick and I dumped them on the hay. So he was going to light the bastards on fire. Neat plan, although how the hell would we get out? I guess we'd cross that bridge when we come to it. "All right, here we go. Come on. Hurry. Oh shit. All right. Okay." Rick said dumping his canister as I dropped mine as well. He grabbed onto my arm and pointed Carl up the ladder to the second floor of the barn. "Up there. Hurry."

"Well, what about you two?" Carl asked, extending his arms.

"We'll be right there. Drop the lighter when I say. We'll stop some of them from reaching the house and distract the others, so at least we'll have a chance," Rick handed Carl the lighter and I bent down to eye level with the boy.

"Carl, it'll be OK, you just keep the lighter steady and drop it when we say," I told him, grabbing his should and moving slightly back.

"Hey-hey-hey, look at me. You can do this. Carl I love you," Rick told his son.

"You'll be fine buddy, we're gonna be right up there OK? Be strong," I told him and Carl nodded. I heard the wood on the doors beginning to stretch and break when Rick turned back to Carl.

"All right, go-go-go," he pushed him up the stairs. I went up to the doors with Rick, once Carl was safely out of range and we threw the wooden block off the doors. As the walkers began to pour in, we began to shake our arms and yell at them. "Hey! Hey! You want some?! Come and get it! Come on! Come on! Come on! Over here! Come on, over here. Come on, over here! Carl, now! Keep it steady!" We ran up the stairs just in time to avoid being burnt to a crisp.

"I'm trying!" Carl yelled to his father.

"Damn it," Rick sighed as Carl dropped it, thinking that it wouldn't light. I however saw the small embers, and just before the small explosion came, I yelled "move!" to the Grimes men, and pushed us out of the way of the flames. Just as I stood up, I heard the sound of gunfire outside the barn. So they must have understood the warning. Backing out of the barn, to an open spot in the roof, we stopped short when we saw that the barn was surrounded. There was no way down. I heard Rick shouting and I turned to look where he was shouting to. It was Jimmy, driving the Winnebago over to us. "Jimmy!" I shrieked, waving my hands around. He pulled up to the roof overhang, and Rick jumped over first, extending his hand, helping Carl and I over to where he was. We quickly hopped onto the roof of the RV, and I walked to the front to try to get into the door. I almost shrieked when I saw how many walkers were down by the door. I was about to warn Jimmy when they broke down the door and pushed in. Judging by the screams, I guessed that they had gotten to him.

I ran over to the other end of the RV and saw that Rick had helped Carl down, he turned back to me and ushered me down the ladder. I looked around and saw that the walkers were scrambled now, and cars were weaving in and out, taking down the walkers. Daryl. He was out there somewhere. I had to find him, but I couldn't risk Rick and Carl in the process. "Rain! We have to go!" Rick shouted, trying to pull me away. I ripped my arm out of his grip and pushed him away from me.

"Rick you need to go! Take Carl and go! Get to the cars! I need to find Daryl," I told him ,pushing him away. He looked at me and tried to argue that they could help, that we would find him together. "No way Rick! I'm not risking the both of your lives just so that I can find him! Get out of here, find Lori Get the hell off of the farm, we've lost it!" Rick tried to come back to me but I moved away slightly. Turning to shoot a walker, I pulled off my bow and nocked an arrow, aiming and shooting the arrow into the walkers head that had gotten slightly too close. Rick walked up and hugged me, telling me to be careful, and Carl quickly joined in. Breaking apart the hug, I shoved them away and yelled one last "go!" Rick and Carl headed back to the house and I silently wished them luck, before turning away, and darting from the barn.

Leaping over the fence, I tried to follow a truck. A blue truck. It was Daryl. However, when I saw the arm lean out the window, I noticed that it was black. Damn it, it was T-Dog. At least I know that T is safe. I looked into the window and saw that Lori was in the truck with him. Thank God, Rick's wife was safe. A hand grabbed my shoulder and I gasped, before turning around swinging the arrow I had in my hand blindly at the walker. I swiped at it a few times before I finally severed its head from its body. The head fell onto my torso and I let out a small scream before running toward the middle of the field. I looked around and saw that the cars were swerving in and out. It was already almost impossible to see who was who from how fast they were going, but it was night out and the only light was coming from the fire on the barn. I stopped and caught my breath for a moment before hearing the growling of walkers again, too close for comfort.

Quickly whipping my head around, I saw that there was about 5 walkers headed directly for me. Nocking an arrow I shot down the first walker and the second behind it. Stumbling back slightly as they advanced on me, I took off my knife and drove it into the third walkers skull. Not wanting to wait any longer I jumped at the chance to take out the fourth and fifth walkers. They must have turned towards the beginning of the outbreak, as their skulls were pretty soft. As the last of them fell, I turned and continued to run. Now trying to make my way back to the house, I was quickly tiring. I fired arrow after arrow, and still more and more walkers came up to me. I nearly screamed when I saw that no matter how many arrows I fired, or how many bullets they were letting fly, we weren't even making a dent in this. Fuck, we were so outnumbered that it was almost funny. Had I not been about to die, I would have laughed. Reaching back, I went to grab an arrow to fend off a walker not too far from me when I was met with empty air. Damn it! I panicked and dropped my bow, reaching into my thigh holster to grab my gun. Pulling it out as fast as I could, I switched off the safety as I raised my gun, but I was too late. The walker bowled into me, knocking me off balance. I screamed as I went down, and fired blindly. Luckily, I had hit the walker in the brain. It dropped on top of me, and I struggled to throw it off. I hissed in pain as I looked down at my arms, they were covered in blood, and my jeans were torn. I was covered in small cuts and quickly forming bruises. Reaching over to my side, I threw my bow back onto me and let out a few grunts of pain.

I let out a long sigh at my close call with the walker and dropped my head back. However, it quickly snapped up at the sound of a walker in front of me. It was closer to me then I had expected, I knew that if I tried to get up, I would end up only an inch from it's face, so I decided to wait it out. Praying that I'd made the right call, I prepared to make my move. When the walker was only a few inches from me, and about to fall onto me, I swept my leg up, catching it in the legs, and made it fall backwards. To my utter surprise though, the walker twisted as it fell and it caught my foot under it. Shrieking in pain, I yanked my foot out from under it and bit my lip to prevent the ear splitting scream that wanted to force its way out of my throat. I must have popped my foot out of place, or maybe even broken it, judging from the crack that I'd heard. Oh fuck that hurt. Not wanting to lose the advantage I had, I jumped up on the walker, ignoring the sharp pains that shot through my leg. Raising my knife, I stabbed into the walkers skull and fell when I felt the walkers resistance stop.

I let the tears rise to my eyes at the pain in my ankle. It wasn't very long though before I heard the unforgiving growl of the walkers. "Please no," I cried out before hauling myself to my feet. I looked around frantically, this time to my horror, there was nowhere to run. Walkers were surrounding me on all sides. I fired all of the rest of my bullets, but that didn't even make a dent in the group that was slowly closing in on me. They were all drawn to me now, they could smell the blood dripping off of me. I re holstered my Beretta and pulled out my Springfield, but my efforts were futile. I fired 2 more bullets before dropping the gun to my side. There was no use, I was surrounded, with no way out. I took a deep breath and looked to the sky, "I'm so sorry Daryl, I love you."

I cringed as a female walker went to bite my arm when a gunshot brought her down. The gunfire continued until it had cleared a path, and I heard a voice calling me, snapping me out of my daze. "Rain! Get the hell outta there!" I took off in an awkward sprint, and just as I cleared the circle of walkers, I saw it. Daryl. And on the back of his bike was Carol. Thank God, at least the two of them were safe as well. "Rain!" Both Carol and Daryl shouted at the same time. This time, I did let the tears flow, Daryl had Carol hold up the bike, and he jumped off of it, running to me. He opened his arms and pulled me into a tight hug. I let myself settle into his warmth, soaking it in. As much as I would have loved to stay like that, we had to keep on our toes.

"What are you doing here?! Go with the others! You need to get back to them!" I yelled at Daryl.

"Rain, we stayed to find you. When I heard gunshots coming from that circle, I figured someone was in it, I prayed that that someone was you. Now c'mon, we have to get out of here!" I smiled at Daryl and stayed planted where I was.

"Daryl, that bike is made for one person, Carol barely fits on there. You have my stuff with you, take my bow and the arrow sheath. I'll go through the woods, meet you guys. Where is everyone meeting up?" I asked him, handing over my bow to Carol. She took it and was about to argue with me when I shook my head at her. "I'm faster, even injured. I'll figure it out and I'll make it back. I swear."

"On the highway where we broke down, but Rain no. It's too dangerous. You could get killed out there and I can't lose you. I won't. We can make room on the bike," Daryl pleaded to me.

I gave Daryl a sad look and put my hand to his cheek, "I'm sorry Daryl, you have to leave, I won't risk three peoples safety just to maybe not even guarantee my own. I'll find you guys," I leaned in close to him and sighed. Hell I'd probably die, so I might as well say it. "I love you Daryl Dixon." I pulled back from him and kissed him, hard and like it was the last time, which it probably was. I felt a little drop of water hit my cheek, and I knew that he was crying. I pulled away from him and shoved him to the bike.

He wiped the one tear off of his face stood staring at me for a moment, before calling to me, "Rain I uh- you know that I- I mean-" I cut Daryl off, sending him a bitter smile. I knew what he wanted to say. That's such a Daryl thing, still he refuses to cry, and he can't say it back. But I knew that he did, I knew that he meant it.

"I know Daryl," I told him.

"We'll draw as many of them off of you as we can," Carol told me, giving me a sympathetic stare. I nodded a thanks to her before bounding off towards the woods, letting the tears flow freely from my eyes. I heard them shouting behind me and I knew that they were trying to get the walkers off of my tail.

I had barely made it 10 yards before I saw a decent sized pack of walkers after me. Damn it, I only had my two throwing knives and 15 bullets left. There were at least 20 on me and I didn't want to let off any gun fire at them, not with the risk of attracting more of them. Picking up the pace, I let out a small yelp of pain every time I stepped down on my right ankle. This was miserable and I didn't know how much longer I could do it for. my leg would give out, and I'd become just another meal for those walkers. As I was running, some cruel part of me thought back to when I was a little kid, and I had gone camping in the woods. The odd part was that it was these exact woods, and I knew that there was a river in these woods that would lead me to the highway. I didn't know if walkers could swim or not, but I figured why not try. Can't hurt my chances of surviving right now, could it? I decided to take a chance and I veered off to the side of the path. I tried to make it to a sprint, as I could feel the walkers right on my tail. I let out a bitter laugh, the woods that I had loved when I was little were the same woods that I would die in.

Grunting through the pain, I finally broke through the trees and saw the river. I practically broke down right there, but I knew that I had to keep going. Slamming to a halt, I looked at the water. God, the water was even rougher than it used to be, it could kill me at this rate. Oh well, there were no big drops in the river and I was a pretty strong swimmer. Turning, I just barely ducked out of the way of a walker, who I kicked in the stomach. The walker went toppling over and I heard more crunches in my ankle. Crying out in pain, I figured, what the hell? Might as well give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen? I drown? Wouldn't that be the way to go in a world like this? Leaping into the water, I was quickly sucked underwater, and thrown over myself a few times by the current.

As I finally popped back up to the surface, I was grateful that I'd taken a deep breath. Had I not, I very likely would have just drowned. Looking back up the river while I could, I saw that the walkers hadn't jumped in after me. Thank God, they can't swim. However, my relief was short lived when I heard snarling directly behind me. Shrieking, I tried to whip around, but the current was too strong. The walker was having trouble staying afloat, but they couldn't drown, I could. The current had kept me facing forward and I felt the walker grab onto me; I could tell that it couldn't swim, as all of its weight was on me, using me as a floating device. Feeling its putrid breath on my shoulder, I managed to fight the current. Kicking the walker off of me, I swam around it. I raised the gun up to its face, and stupidly pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Damn it Rain, what were you thinking? Of course it wouldn't fire, it was soaking wet. Guns weren't designed to be able to fire when they were soaking wet. I shook my head, and grudgingly dropped the gun, letting the current sweep it away. I tried to reach for the knife in my pants but it was no use, I was using one hand to keep the walker at bay, and the other to make sure that I wasn't drowning. I had no spare hands. It was either reach for the knife, or risk drowning.

I was fighting a losing battle with the walker, when I felt a searing pain on my side. I let out a loud scream and looked to see that it was a rock jutting out of the water. I saw the water staining a dark red behind me, and I knew from the stinging agony in my side, that the cut was bad. I managed to raise my head above the waves for a minute to see more rocks coming up. Oh God, they'd cut me in half if I wasn't careful. I quickly thought of a plan, maybe a stupid one, but I was on my last leg. Literally. If this didn't work, there was no way I would make it out of this. Grabbing the walker by the little hair it had left, I pushed with all my might toward the other bank, using its hair to keep its head back. I struggled to hold him there when I saw that the rocks were coming up. I pushed myself so that I would be directly beside the rock, and squinted when the rock was within spitting distance.

I felt the walker get pulled from my grip and I also felt a smashing in my fingers, "FUCK!" I bellowed out and I floated away from the body of the walker that was stuck to the rock. My tears once again began to fall as I cradled my shattered hand. Crying, I looked up at the last minute to see the rapids begin. Damn it, I thought I had already passed them. Without getting a chance to take in a breath, I was dragged under, swallowing a lungful of water instead of air. Trying to push my way back to the surface, I could slowly feel myself fading in and out. Just as I felt like my lungs were about to burst, the water leveled out and I sprung to the surface, vomiting almost immediately. I looked down to see that the vomit had blood in it. Not good. I most likely had some type of internal bleeding, maybe from the impact of the rocks.

I coughed up the rest of whatever was in my stomach when the currents started up again. I was startled when I was pulled back down quickly. It felt like I was fighting for hours to be able to pop back up to the air, when I finally managed to pop above the surface again. I went to look forward, when something smashed into the side of my head. I let out an ear piercing scream, which was muffled by the water. I looked back, and through blurry vision, I saw that there was an insane amount of blood on a rock a ways back.

The currents were quickly sucking me under once more, and I tried to fight them, but I couldn't. My body was being battered my the rocks that I could no longer avoid, I was losing too much blood, and I couldn't even see anymore. I let my body tip back to the sky, and felt the water trying to pull me down. I took a deep breath feeling a sharp, shooting pain, and opened my eyes to see the blurry scene, "I'm so sorry Daryl. Fight on, for me. I really do love you." I coughed a few times, and saw red blotches on my skin. Finally giving up and readying myself for death, I surrendered myself to the river, shut my eyes, and let the water pull me under.

Out on the Road  
>I'd just pulled up to Rick, Carl, and Hershel when everyone began jumping out of their vehicles to reunite with loved ones. I gave Rick a handshake and let a nasty expression cross my face. My loved one wasn't here, she was back there someone. Hell, maybe she was dead. "Oh thank God!" Lori shouting, pulling her son into a hug.<p>

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked, walking up to me.

"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road figured he had to be Asian, driving like that," I joked around. I was trying to keep from breaking down by making any jokes I could think of.

Glenn smiled and laughed slightly."Good one," he mumbled to me.

"Where's the rest of us?" I asked, praying that someone had seen some of the others. Or if anyone had seen anything of Rain after Carol and I had driven off.

Rick looked at me and shook his head, with his hands on his hips. "We're the only ones who made it so far."

"Shane?" Lori asked. Rick stood there for a moment before shaking his head. I saw the look of horror cross her face but I couldn't help but think, it was probably better this way.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked after a moment.

Carol spoke up this time, "she saved me, then I lost her."

T-Dog, who was hanging on the door to my old truck shook head head and told us the bad news. "We saw her go down." I shook my head, I knew that Rain had hated her, and she'd shot me, but still. She didn't deserve that death.

"Patricia?" Hershel asked.

His daughter, Beth I was pretty sure her name was spoke up from next to her father. She looked up at him and said, "they got her, too. Took her right in front of me. I was- I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just, what about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?" She asked, crying. I knew he was in the RV and I had thought that I'd seen it get overrun.

"He was in the RV. It got overrun," Rick said, looking down at the pavement.

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol, who was leaning on the car next to me asked.

Lori gave an unsure look and said, "there were walkers everywhere."

"Did you see her?" Carol asked.

I cut in, wanting to know if anyone had seen Rain. If we knew for sure that she was dead, I had to know. Before I could ask though, Rick beat me to it. "What about Rain, where is she?"

"She said for us to go, wasn't room. She said that she'd either try to find someone else, or keep to the woods and make it back. No one's seen her?" I said. I prayed to whatever God was out there that she had made it out of there. I heard T-Dog clear his throat and I looked up to him. I nearly lost it at the guilt ridden face he had.

"I saw her right before we pulled out, she ran into the woods. Had about 20 of 'em on her. She looked injured too, real bad. I have no idea if she made it out. Even if she did, she's probably up in a tree somewhere. But that's not likely," T-Dog told us. "I'm so sorry Daryl, I couldn't get out there to her."

I had to know. I had to see it, I needed to go back. Either find her hiding somewhere, or go to retrieve her body. "I'm gonna go back," I said, turning to walk off.

"No," Rick said, extending his arm to stop me.

I started to get mad. "We can't just leave her!" I yelled. There was no way, I had to go back for her. She was the first person I'd ever loved, and I needed to get her back. I couldn't lose her.

"We don't even know if she's there. She might not be Daryl. We all care for her, but it's too dangerous right now to check. She isn't there. She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead. There's no way to find her," Rick told me, looking at me with sorrow filled eyes.

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked, stepping up to Daryl.

We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here.

T-Dog spoke up, still on the door handle, "I say head east." I agree, we needed to stay off of the roads. We would leave, but tomorrow morning, after I woke up, I was gonna head back to the farm and go check around the area for any signs of Rain.

"Stay off the main roads. The bigger the road, the more walkers, mo assholes like this one. I got him," I quickly walked up to the walker and raised my crossbow, firing it into the walkers left eye. We all headed back to our vehicles, and I went to my bike, latching my crossbow securely on to it, and checking that mine and Rain's things were all still there. We had been driving for only a few minutes when I heard the horn to signal the caravan to stop. I put my legs down on each side of the bike, and turned to Rick. "You out?" I asked him, referring to gas for the car.

"Running on fumes," Rick said, walking past me and beginning to head up the road.

Maggie went to follow him and called out. "We can't stay here."

"We can't all fit in one car," Glenn added. He was right, we only had one other functioning car and my bike could only hold one person.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning," Rick said, coming to a halt.

Carol asked sceptically, "spend the night here?"

"I'm freezing," Carl chattered, his mother holding onto him, trying to warm the young boy up.

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori asked.

I sighed, knowing that looking for firewood could prove to be dangerous, no matter how close we stayed. And I was pretty sure that we were almost out of ammo. "You go out looking for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?" I asked Rick as he walked past me.

He sighed at me and answered, "not enough." That's what I thought.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out," Maggie said from behind.

"Watch your mouth," Hershel said to his daughter. I couldn't help but to smile a bit, what a father. Rain's language must have terrified him, after all, the two were the same age. I felt a sudden pang shoot through my chest at the thought of her. I wished this night would go by faster, I needed to see what had become of her. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick," Hershel added at the last minute.

"All right, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on," our leader tried to calm us down with a plan. I nodded slightly to him, it didn't sound too bad.

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas," Maggie offered, walking up to Rick. Not a bad idea, but it was probably best if we all stuck together for now.

"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car," Rick told her.

Glenn added in a very unhelpful thought right after. "Rick, we're stranded now."

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure. I really wasn't but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something," Glenn said. Yeah, no food in the cities anymore, they're heading out into the country trying to find some.

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it," he said. I knew that he was saying that in hopes of finding a safe place for Lori to have her baby. And hell, I didn't blame him for wanting that. We all wanted a place to settle down.

Maggie began to speak and I saw the venomous look he shot her. "Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe."

"We won't make that mistake again," Hershel assured his oldest daughter.

Rick looked over and found a somewhat secure looking place right off the side of the road. He turned back and pointed it out to us. "We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day."

I could feel Carol walking over to me, and I wondered what she wanted. "Does this feel right to you?" She asked me.

Beth went walking up to Rick and asked him a very valid question. "What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?"

"You know I found Randall, right? He had turned, but he wasn't bit," I said, looking to Rick. I wanted to know how the hell that that was even possible.

"How's that possible?" Beth asked.

Lori gave Rick an odd look and she asked her husband, "Rick, what the hell happened?"

"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to," I assumed looking to Rick to see if I was right. There was no way that any part of the story Shane had told us back at the farm was true, and now we only had Rick to tell us the truth.

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked her husband.

Rick stood in silence for a moment before uttering three words that would change our lives forever. "We're all infected." What the hell did that mean? Not just myself, but everyone in the group stared at Rick like he had 3 heads.

Not understanding, I finally broke the silence and asked, "what?"

"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it," Rick answered. Well God fucking damn it. If that was true then that meant that no matter how you die, you come back as one of those things. Even if you die of old age, perfectly healthy, you'll return as a walker. Unless someone shoots you in the head. Well I'll be damned.

Everyone stood in silence trying to take it in when Carol finally spoke up. "And you never said anything?" She asked Rick, with an accusing bite in her voice.

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked her.

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn asked, obviously angry with Rick for keeping it a secret. I could understand why he did though, no need to cause panic when he didn't really know for sure. Randall must have sealed the deal for him.

"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo-" Rick started before Glenn cut him off.

Glenn began to advance on Rick when Carol pushed him back slightly. "That is not your call," the younger man snapped. "Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone," Glenn quickly recalled. Yea, well that had actually been a matter of life and death and it was absolute fact. Rick hadn't know if that was absolute fact.

"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know," Rick told him before stalking off. After a moment, Lori faithfully followed her husband to the campsite. I turned around, and headed to the wood line to clear my head. As I walked farther up the woods, I happened to overhear the conversation between Rick and Lori.

"I killed him. I killed Shane. He came at me. He killed Randall to get me into the woods. He planned it. I had- I had no choice. I gave him every chance and he kept leading me further out. He pushed me, and I let him. And after awhile, I knew I knew what he was doing, what he was up to. And I kept going. I didn't stop. I could have, but I just wanted it over. Dogging me every step of the way. Acting like I stole you and Carl, like- Like I was in the way. I just wanted it over. Rain was there too, she was in front of me so that if he shot, he would have hit her. But I couldn't let her die for me, so I pushed her out of the way." Huh, so that was what had happened, that was why I didn't see her back at the house after that. She had been stupid and stepped into a fight that she was destined to lose. Clearly things had worked out just fine for her though, she had still been alive after the fight. "But at that point, after threatening her, I wanted him dead. I killed him. He turned. That's how I knew Jenner Jenner was right. Carl put him down," Rick continued. Damn, that little kid had to put him down. How the hell had that worked out?

What the hell? What was Rick talking about? He had killed Shane? Well God damn. I sighed and walked off, back into the woods. The rest of that conversation was their business, not mine. Stepping back into the woods through the break in the trees, I went back to picking up wood for a fire. Rain, she was there too. I knew that she would do something stupid, I should have made her stay. Go back to the house, I should have brought her back to the house with us. Left her there and had her get in a car. At least I knew that Rick was willing to die, rather than let an innocent woman get shot. Sighing, I picked up the last of the wooden branches around me, and I moved over to where everyone was setting up camp.

A few hours later, I had my sleeping bag rolled out in the corner of our small campsite, and I was standing over the fire, feeding it more wood to try and keep it going. It was freezing out, and I knew that if we didn't try to keep warm, someone would end up getting sick from the cold. I had just thrown in another log when Carol, who was sitting next to where I was kneeling, spoke to me.

She looked up at me, and I just barely looked her in the eye, "we're not safe with him. Keeping something like that from us. Why do you need him? He's just gonna pull you down."

I shook my head at her. "No. Rick's done all right by me."

"You're his henchman and I'm a burden. You deserve better," she told me.

I looked at her narrowing my eyes and gave her a small glare. "What do you want?" No one is perfect in this world anymore and Rick is trying his hardest to keep everyone happy.

"A man of honor," she told me.

"Rick has honor," I argued back to her.

"I think we should take our chances," Maggie said. Out there? By ourselves? No way, numbers meant strength, and these people, all of them are good. And I had to stay, in the morning, I had to go out there and find her. One way or another, I had to know what had happened to her.

"Don't be foolish. There's no food, no fuel, no ammo," Hershel told his older daughter.

I cut in and stood up, "besides, Rain is out there somewhere, and I'm not leaving. I'm searchin for her in the mornin. I ain't leavin without her. She ain't dead either, she's way too damn stubborn for that." I heard a crack out in the woods, and I saw everyone jump, clearly worried what was out there.

"What was that?" Beth asked.

I stood up and looked around. "Could be anything. Could be a raccoon, could be a possum. Walker."

"We need to leave. I mean what are we waiting for?" Carol spoke up.

Maggie stood and asked "which way?" Meaning the noise we'd just heard.

"It came from back there. Back the way we came," Carol answered her.

Rick, who had just walked up, looked at us and shook his head. "The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot. Don't panic."

"I'm not- I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through," Carol said.

Maggie stepped up towards Rick and told him, "we need to move, now."

"No one is going anywhere," Rick snapped at her. I saw Maggie recoil slightly from him.

Carol looked at him and told him lightly, "do something."

"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake! You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get. No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight, you're staying. This isn't a democracy anymore," Rick snarled the last part. Shaking his head, he stormed out of the little area we had all barricaded ourselves in.

With nothing else left to say, and the group left in an awkward silence, I laid out on my sleeping bag and stared up at the sky. For how long, probably hours. It was well into the night, and all I could hear was the wind blowing through the trees, and the snoring of the group. Finally, out of exhaustion, I fell asleep, with nothing in my mind but the burning desire to find her. I had to, even if it was the last thing I did.

The next morning, I yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Unlike the other mornings when I would walk out to breakfast, and there was friendly chatter, the group was dead silent today. Usually I liked the silence, but after last night, I would do anything to hear the chatter. I wasn't very hungry, so when I grabbed a protien bar from a small pile, I merely gnawed on it for a while. Sighing, I stood to tell Rick that I was gonna take a car, head back to the house; check for our own and scavenge for any supplies we had left that we could salvage. I picked up my crossbow, and felt a tap on my shoulder, turning to see who it was, I noticed that it was Rick.

He sighed and whispered to me, "I already asked Glenn. There's a river not to far from here, maybe about half a mile. We have no water, would you mind goin with him. Bring a few jugs, get some? We can boil it before we leave," he told me. He had been looking down the entire time, probably feeling very attacked.

I placed my hand on Rick's shoulder and gave him a small, reassuring look. "No problem, we'll head out now," I told the leader who gave me a grateful look. Shouldering my crossbow, I walked over to where Glenn was sitting. "Ya ready?" I asked him. He nodded at me and picked up his gun, placing it in his strap, and standing up to join me.

"River's that way, about half a mile," Glenn told me. I nodded and we got to walking. The walk had been in silence, with nothing much that anyone had to say after last night, there really was no talking. We'd been walking about 10 minutes when I heard the trickling of a stream. Looking over to Glenn, I called him to me.

"It's over here, I can hear it," I told him. Glenn nodded at me, and the two of us made our way toward the river. I was ecstatic when I saw the river, I was dying of thirst. Walking down to the riverbank, I looked down at the water and grabbed one of my bins, standing next to Glenn. Filling my bucket up about halfway, I looked over, and saw something black and shiny. "Glenn," I whispered, nodding to the other side of the river. I looked at it, and jumped in the water, making my way to the other side. It wasn't much of a big deal, the water only came up to about mid shin. Making my way to other side of the riverbank, I looked at the object and saw that it was a gun. Picking it up, I gave it a once over and read the imprint on the side. "Springfield... Rain," I breathed out.

Glenn called out to me from the other side, "Daryl! What is it?"

I turned back to him, raising the gun. "It's a gun, Rain's gun! She's gotta be around here somewhere," I said, walking back across the bank.

"C'mon, finish filling up these buckets and then we'll go out looking for her," I nodded at him slightly, and just before I moved off, Glenn caught me by my arm. "We'll find her," he told me. I nodded again and moved upstream a bit, leaning down in front of the water. I'd turned around to get my other bucket, when I looked down and saw, a tiny pinkish glint to the water. What the hell? Was that blood? If it was, then whoever it was coming from had to be alive, walker blood was black. "Glenn! There's blood," I called to the Asian. He ran up to me, and I quickly moved upstream. Running out there, as fast as I could, I saw a body up a ways.

Walking over to it slowly, I knew that it wasn't a walker. It would have looked over at us from the noise. As I got closer, its features became more pronounced. It was a girl, judging from the hair, which was tangled in knots and matted with blood. I did notice however, that the hair that wasn't covered in blood was a light blonde. And that shirt, that beige shirt that was peeking out from under a black jacket that was torn to shreds. "Rain... RAIN!" I screamed, sprinting over to her.

Darting down to her, slipping on the rocks, I leaned over her, nearly breaking down at the sight of her. Her clothes were torn to shreds, and they were soaked in blood. Her blood. Her hair was knotted beyond belief, and it was almost black from the amount if dried blood in it. I saw the gashes on her body, they were deep and large, they looked like they were most likely from rocks that had been in her way. I cringed when I saw that they were still bleeding, I could only imagine how much blood she'd lost. I picked up her head softly and saw that there was a tiny dent in her skull when I pushed her hair back. It was tiny and you had to really look for it, but it was there. She most likely had hit her head pretty hard on a rock or the bank. I looked down, and saw that her hand was smashed, most likely she broke a few bones in it.

Cradling her battered and bruised body, I leaned my ear down to her chest. I could hear Glenn screaming to me as I ran up, and I shushed him. Glenn fell next to me, and I just could barely hear a heartbeat. It was slow, and weak, but it was there. I knew that she didn't have much time left. Glenn looked up to me and muttered, "we gotta get back to them. We gotta get her to Hershel." I was sitting there in shock, and Glenn pulled on my shoulder. "Daryl! Get the hell up! She's almost dead! If you want any chance of her living, we gotta go, now!"

Jolting out of my shocked haze, I jumped up with Rain in my arms, and sprinted back to camp. "Glenn, run ahead, get them ready. Now!" I yelled to him. The younger man nodded and tore out to the camp. "Hang on Rain, don't you dare die on me," I mumbled to her. Finally making it within eyesight of the camp, I saw all of the members of the group running out to us, yelling out her name.

"Get her to the tents, there's a blanket laid out in T-Dog's tent for her! Hershel's ready!" Rick yelled to me, as I ran up to the group. Meeting Hershel in the tent, I laid her down gently on the blankets and took a small step back. I watched as he put a stethoscope on, and put it to her chest. Before he did though, he looked up to me.

"Daryl, you may not want to be here for this," he told me looking up. I nodded and took a step out of the tent. The flap was open, so I watched what was happening, along with everyone else. He kept the stethoscope at her chest for a moment before furrowing his brows and looking up. "Maggie! Get in here! Help me out, CPR now. I lost her heartbeat," He told his oldest daughter. What?!

"Rain!" I cried out, trying to run to the tent.

"Daryl no!" Rick yelled, catching me, and throwing me back. "Don't, they need all the space they can get. They'll tell you if something happens." I sat staring at the tent, watching Maggie and Hershel try to save her, but I knew, I knew that she was as good as dead. They need a defibrillator at this point, and she'd lost too much blood, hardly anything was getting to her brain and heart. I fell back, against Rick, who had managed to pull me away from the group, and I did something that I hadn't done since I was a kid- and I'd never done around people- I cried.

A/N: Well, clearly Rain has not been having a good day, nor Daryl for that matter. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! I worked really hard on the entire scene with Rain and the walkers so I hope you enjoyed that. Thank you for the follows and favorites from **mayasquared, justmeandnobodyelse, emmafaith97, WalkerGirl1994, gulllakegirl08, **and **loganrutledge3**, as well as the review from **Survivor**. And a special thank you to **lynnvickers725**, your review made my day! So have a happy New Year, and please review! I really like to hear what you guys think! -A


	22. Keeping Hope

Rick had a hand on my shoulder, gently squeezing it. "Daryl. I'm so sorry about Rain. Maybe if I hadn't been such a dick, if I had let you go looking for her last night then-" Rick had been trying to apologize to me when I heard shouting from the tent that Hershel was trying to save Rain in. I turned and jumped up, rushing to the tent, Rick following close behind.

I looked into the tent and saw that Hershel had a tight grip on Rain, who was sitting up vomiting what looked like water, and a hell of a lot of blood. Made sense though, she hadn't eaten anything, she had nothing but water to get rid of. I glanced up at her face and saw that her eyes were barely open, rolled into the back of her head. Panicking, I ran to try and get to her when Hershel stopped me. "No Daryl! I need space here, her body is just restarting itself. Trying to expel everything that is blocking her airways or stuck in her lungs. She's OK for the moment, but she won't be for long. Her body is focusing on healing itself, closing off the wounds. It's not making more blood, she needs blood desperately, probably a few transfusions. You wouldn't happen to know her blood type would you?" The older man asked me.

I shook my head and told him, "I have no idea. She never needed a transfusion before this. Is there anything you can do?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Not until I know her blood type, could she maybe have anything in her stuff that would tell us? Maybe a recent hospital visit slip or an insurance card?" He asked. I wasn't sure what she had with her, I'd never really seen her pull anything out of her bags except for clothes. Suddenly a thought hit me, I had her stuff beside my sleeping bag. Running over to my area, I grabbed her bag and went rifling through it. I began tossing aside the extra stuff she had, a few extra gun clips that were loaded, a knife, a small writing pad, a few feminine products- a slight blush crept across my cheeks as I threw them to the side-, a few extra clothes, a whetstone, what looked like a picture of herself and a dog, and then at the very bottom; her wallet. I grabbed it and flipped it open, there were plenty of cards, which I tossed aside. There was nothing with her blood types. Damn it. I was about to throw the wallet to the side when a folded up piece of paper fell out. Grabbing it off of the ground, I saw that it was a hospital receipt, and it was recent. Only from a few weeks before the breakout. Unfolding it, I read off the list when I finally caught what I was looking for, her blood type. It was AB.

Jumping up and running to Hershel I yelled into the tent at him "AB! It's AB," I told him, slightly out of breath.

"Good, good. You wouldn't happen to know your blood type would you?" Hershel asked me. I shook my head, I had absolutely no idea. "Damn. Well we don't have time to get to a blood bank. I suppose we could wait it out. Or maybe we could just chance it, besides there's no way that she will wake up with the amount of blood she's lost."

Just then, Beth stepped forward, rolling up her sleeve. "Daddy, you know that I have AB. I'll do it, let me give her blood, I'll be fine," Beth said, stepping past me. I nodded a thank you to her, and she gave me a small smile. Hershel sighed, but nodded anyways. Obviously he didn't want his youngest daughter to have to sacrifice any of her own health.

"Alright. Maggie, set Beth up. I'll get an IV for Rain," he said. I watched as Maggie pulled out the IV and slid it into Beth's arm. The younger girl cringed but watched as the blood ran from her body. Maggie pulled out the IV and handed the bag of blood over to Hershel. She told him that it was 2 pints and the older man nodded, taking it and hooking Rain up to it. I watched as the blood ran into Rain's body, and was surprised to see that a tiny bit of color, almost unnoticeable, came to Rain's face. "We really should clean her up, I need to get some buckets of water, and if someone can give me some loser clothes to put on her. Glenn nodded and ran off to get the buckets of water that we had brought back earlier. Carol put in that she had some clothes that would probably be big on her, and she ran off to get them. "Beth, go sit down for a while, get your strength back." The young girl nodded, and walked out of the tent, to lay down on her sleeping bag. "Alright, Lori and Carol, could I get some help from you both? I have to get all of her cleaned off, I need to see all of the damage that was done." The two women nodded and walked into the tent, joining Maggie, while Hershel walked out. He walked up to Rick and I and told us, "I need to get her cleaned off and do a thorough check of her. I'll come out and let you both know what's going on with her after. We'll be gentle with her."

I nodded and with that, Hershel walked back into the tent, this time zipping up the flap. Only caring about what happened to Rain, I sat and stared at the tent. I didn't know how long had passed, but I didn't care, all I wanted to do was wait until I knew what exactly was going on with Rain. "Daryl," I heard Glenn call. "You've been out here for almost 4 hours, don't you want to get something to eat or move at all? They'll tell you if something happens. I was about to snap at the younger man when the tent unzipped and Carol popped her head out.

"Daryl? Rick? If you two could come in here?" Carol asked. I shoved past Glenn and slipped into the tent. I walked in and saw Rain laying right in the middle. And I really saw her, there was almost no blood on her now. They'd done a good job cleaning her up, I guess this was why it had taken 4 hours.

"So? What's going on with her?" Rick asked, looking up at Hershel.

"Well there's good news, and bad. The good news is that, I'm pretty sure she'll wake up, the bad news is, I don't know how much damage she did to herself out there," Hershel said, shaking his head.

"Damage? Isn't that what ya were just checkin for?" I asked him.

"Outward damage. Of the body. Of the mind is another thing. She seems to have hit her head incredibly hard, she may have some memory damage, and it could be permanent. But that's just a guess, she may not have anything. As far as the actual injuries, plenty of cuts, scrapes, and bruises, as you can see. Her hand was pretty badly broken, I did reset the bones and they're on the way to healing. If anyone moves her, be careful of the hand. She got some pretty nasty gashes on her body, legs and arms; I put some bandaging on them, gonna change em 3 times a day until they start to scab over. That'll probably be a while though. Her skull has a tiny dent in it, nothing to worry about though, I was cleaning her head and she didn't flinch. That's a good thing, means there's no serious damage. She might have some tiny fracture in the skull but I'm hoping that there's no serious damage done there. That we may have to wait to find out. She's also pulled her foot out of it's socket, pretty far too. I reset it, and I'm glad that she was asleep when I did it, it would have been incredibly painful for her. Besides that, I believe that she has a small fracture in her foot. She's pretty banged up, but I reckon I did a pretty good job fixing her up." Hershel gave me a small smile, and motioned that I could come up to her.

"So this is good right? She's on her way to healing? It might take a while, but we'll have her back with us?" Rick asked. Hershel sighed and looked down at the ground, what the hell now?

"Well that's the problem. I'm not sure if she will wake up. She's a strong girl, anyone could see that. But with these wounds, she should be dead. Hell, had you not found her when you did, I'm inclined to think that she would have been dead in the next hour. She may wake, or she may not. I'm not sure, only time will tell. For now, we should move her into the car, I want someone with her at all times, just in case. Daryl would you mind bringing her there and laying her out?" I nodded at the man and he sighed. "Good, now we need to find a house. Lori can rest up there, and it'll give Rain the chance to heal herself without being constantly moved around."

Rick nodded, "all right. Daryl, go bring her to the car. We need to be gone in the next 10 minutes. We went through almost all of our supplies to save her, and it won't be for naught. We will save her, but she needs a place to rest." I nodded and went to scoop Rain up. "Alright, I'll go tell everyone what's going on."

I pulled Rain into my arms and stepped out of the tent, walking to the cars. I could see the worried looks of everyone around me, but I ignored them. Making it to our hatchback, I popped the trunk and let her gently slip from my arms. I could barely hear Rick telling everyone what was going on, but I ignored him. I picked up Rain's head gently, and hopped into the car, letting her head rest on my lap. I stared down at her, and got a good look at what was going on with her. Her hair had been well washed out, other than the bit of dried blood around her head wound, her hair had been washed clean. Hershel had put a thin bandage over her head, to keep any fresh blood from seeping out. Her face was pale, extremely pale. She had always had a nice tan to her, but now her face was a pale white, ashy looking too. Her arms and legs were completely covered in bandages, apparently they'd taken nearly an hour to clean and dress. I'd volunteered for that duty every day. I lightly picked up her arm, looking at the hand, the fingers and joints had been realigned, but I could tell that they weren't anywhere close to being fixed, they would probably take months to heal. Her ankle as well I thought, looking down. There was a large lump on the side of her foot, and I could tell that it was swelling from where Hershel had pushed it back into place. Sighing, I let my hand trace over the side of her face, and slowly brushed her hair out of her face. "I'm sorry Rain, I should have given you the bike to take. Let you and Carol get out and let me deal with the walkers. But I didn't, I let you convince me that you would be OK. You were wrong. I don't know what I'll do if you don't come back, hell I gotta have someone to pick on. The group is still broken Rain. It's like I said, you're the heart of it, without you, this group is pointless. We're all fighting with each other and Rick is- Rick is goin downhill fast. Come back damn it," I whispered, keeping a strong grip on her.

"Daryl? We're leavin now. I'll take care of her, I promise," Maggie told me. I nodded and shifted Rain's weight, jumping out from under her, and allowing Maggie to slide in. I carefully closed the trunk and saw everyone loading their stuff. I walked over to my bike and saw that Carol was loading some of our stuff onto it.

She hooked the last bag onto the bike and walked up to me, "I'm so sorry about Rain, Daryl. I want you to know that we're all praying for her recovery. Hershel did say though, he's more inclined to think she'll make it. I suppose that means it's just a waiting game for now, but just remember; we all care for her, we all want her to be OK."

I nodded to Carol and jumped onto the bike, her sliding on behind me. "So what now?" I called to Rick, who was inside of his car, with the engine running. He sighed and looked down at his map before looking back up.

"We keep to these side roads. I took a look at em before we got ready to leave, about 2 miles from here there's a road that doesn't go too far back, seems like there's a house there. Think you can find it? Road name's Gordon," Rick told me. I nodded to him that I would be able to find it. I revved my engine and took off, ready to get Rain into a house. Not even 5 minutes later, I saw the road that we were looking for. Making a sharp turn onto the narrow road, I took it slow into the property. Glancing past the trees I saw what I was looking for, the roof of a house.

Pulling up through the trees I looked at the house, it was obvious that whoever had lived here was long gone. There were vines growing on the side of the house and I could see the paint chipping off. I let Rick drive up to me and I nodded. We turned our engines and walked up to the doorstep. "Alright, Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, and myself will go check the house. We'll yell if we need everyone to get back to the cars. Got it?" Rick asked. Everyone nodded and we walked up to the door. Slowly pushing it open, I stepped through and decided to check the back of the house first. There was a large living room in the back of the house, but no walkers. The same went for the kitchen, dining room, and 2 bathrooms that I had checked. I walked back into the foyer and met up with everyone else. "Anything?" Rick asked. Everyone shook their heads no. "Good, Daryl go call everyone in." I nodded and walked outside.

Everyone was standing around the cars and I nodded to them to come inside. I heard choruses of how it wasn't bad, but we would be able to make due. I ignored the thanks and went down to the car where Maggie and Hershel were watching Rain. "Oh good, Daryl. Can you bring her with us? I want to find a room for her to rest in." I nodded and gently picked her up, making my way into the house. "Where are the bedrooms?" Hershel asked Rick.

"They're in the back of the house, upstairs. Do you need any help?" Rick answered, looking concerned at the limp figure in my arms.

Hershel shook his head, "no, thank you. At this point, with the exception of changing the bandages and maybe one more blood transfusion- I'll check if she needs that in the morning- it's up to her to wake up. I hate to say it but there is almost nothing else we can do for her. Her body will have to heal itself," Hershel told us. Rick nodded and led us upstairs, into the first bedroom. It looked like it had been used a guest bedroom, with plain light purple sheets and a dresser in the corner of the room. I smiled slightly, purple. Rain's favorite color. God damn, when had I become so sentimental? I thought, shaking the smile from my lips.

"Alright Daryl, just put her down and tuck her into the sheets." Maggie and Rick pulled down the sheets and I placed her gently in them, letting Maggie roll them back up around her. "I want someone to watch her all the time, everyday until she wakes, who volunteers first?" Hershel asked.

"I will," I said without hesitating.

Hershel laughed, patting me on the back. "Yea, I figured you would. All right, just look for any sudden movements, any sign that she'll throw up, or if she starts seizing. Got it?" I nodded at him and he patted me on the back again. "Good, we'll keep quiet downstairs so if there are any changes, call down." I nodded at him again, and took the chair that was up in the corner in the room, bringing it to her bed.

"Alright, we'll bring you up dinner soon. Let us know if you're getting tired, we'll change off roles," Maggie told me before walking out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. I stared at Rain for a while before sighing and leaning back into my chair, it was gonna be a long few days.

4 Days Later

I had never appreciated true boredom until now. It had been 4 days since we had found Rain and she still hadn't shown any signs of walking up. I was slowly starting to lose faith that she ever would. Every day, just as I had said I would, I cleaned out her wounds. That was, sadly, probably the most exciting part of my day. Needless to say the group hardly ever said anything to each other, except to ask if Rain was OK or there were any changes. I'd hardly left my post by her, only leaving for 3 hours a day to sleep, much to the displeasure of Hershel and Carol, who thought that I should be sleeping. So far, Maggie, Carol, Glenn, and Hershel had also taken turns watching over Rain. I was staring at the empty spots thinking about what little had happened these past few days. We'd had to take out a few walkers, but besides that, there weren't many problems with those. However, this house was old, and falling apart. We would have to leave soon, we were just trying to stick it out. See if Rain would wake before we had to leave. I had taken it upon myself to fix Rain's gun, and I had gotten it working once more. You'd be amazed what you can do when you're bored out of your mind. Besides the bandages, Beth had given Rain more blood, and her color was slowly returning. It wasn't normal yet, but it was getting close. That was the only reason I hadn't completely given up on her waking up. That, and Hershel seemed pretty sure that she would wake up. Her breathing was apparently still short, but she wasn't struggling as much anymore to get the air into her lungs.

I pushed my chair onto its back legs and started humming some old tune to myself, when I heard a hissing noise. I looked back down and settled my chair onto the floor. Looking over at Rain, I could see that her eyes were moving behind her lids. That was good right? I was about to call down to Hershel when I heard her let out a pathetic sounding groan, and her eyes start to open. I called her name over and over, but she still wouldn't respond.

Rain's POV

Black. If I could describe death in one word, that was it. Black. There was nothing, no feeling, no thoughts, no memories, no nothing. It was like being permanently unconscious. I didn't know what had happened but it was like all at once, the lights had come on in my mind. Well shit, was I going to Heaven? Hah, that's funny, Hell more like it. I tried moving my eyes around, but I saw nothing. Black. OK, maybe more like a gray. There seemed to be some light, somewhere. I tried thinking back to the last thing I remembered. It was all a blur. Focusing as hard as I could, it all came back to me like I'd been shot. For a 3rd time. Randall getting free, going with Daryl and Glenn, leaving them and going after Rick and Shane, seeing them facing off, stepping in, Rick stabbing Shane, Shane had come back, Carl put him down, a huge herd had come, we set the barn on fire, escaped, and I went to find Daryl. I had almost been killed, Daryl had saved me, with Carol, I'd made him leave, running into the woods with walkers on my tail, jumping into the river, fighting off the walker and then my mind went blank. There was nothing, until now. So maybe I wasn't dead? Was it possible that I was still alive? I tried to speak, but it just came out as barely anything more than a pathetic hiss. So not much progress.

Instead I tried to move. Again, not much. I tried to wiggle my fingers but I nearly screamed in agony. So that was it. I was feeling pain. I was alive. I had to leave, I had to find everyone, I was here! I had to get to Daryl. Daryl. What would he think when he saw me alive and, well, not well. I tried to move, but the pain was ungodly, like nothing I'd ever felt. I felt a hand push me down, and I tried to fight, but I was far too weak. I heard the force, what I was assuming was a person, trying to speak to me, but my ears felt like I was still underwater. It sounded like a man but it was too distorted to tell. I tried a new tactic, opening my eyes. I tried but could barely get them past slits before I was assaulted with light. I squeaked but fought to keep them open. Not that I could see much, my eyes were covered in crust and I couldn't move to clear them. Good God, is this how newborns feel? Now I see why they always cry. I could just barely hear the man, and after clearing my throat a few times, I prepared to speak to him.

However, it wasn't words that came out. I vomited on the side of the bed, and even through my vision, I could tell that it was clear. What the hell? It must have been a while since I'd eaten if there was absolutely nothing in the vomit. Fuck, how long had I been out for? As I tried to speak to the man again, it all hit me at once, the pain, the emotions, and the hunger. My eyes, which I could already barely see out of, filled with tears at the thought that I may never see any of my old group again. They could think I was dead, and they'd never know that I wasn't. I tried to focus, and this time I could actually make out his words. "Do you know your name?" The man asked me, still sounding like he was underwater.

I took in a deep breath and let out a few empty hisses before my voice became scratchy, "R-ra-ai-i-n," I stuttered. He muttered a small good. Good? Did he know me? Was he with my group? God what I would do to be able to see. I tried to raise my arm, but I couldn't, so I settled for trying to speak again. "T-t-t-ow-w-w-el-l, m-m-y eye-es," I stuttered to him. I was making a bit of progress I noticed when the man's footsteps faded quickly and were back almost instantaneously. I could tell that he was leaning down to me, and I jumped slightly when I felt the wet towel over my eyes.

He slowly pushed the towel over my eyes and I let the water seep into my eyes. He turned the water logged towel over and dried my eyes, trying to wipe off any residue. I tried to open my eyes, again, and I saw that while they were clean, the light was too painful for me to open my eyes just yet. "Here, it's water. You need it." I let him tip my head up and I quickly drained the cup, clearing my throat once more. We went through this process two more times before I gave him a small nod that I was OK. He stayed quiet before asking, "how old are you?"

I thought for a moment and answered, "22, I-I thi-ink," I told him. My throat was still scratchy but it was slowly getting better. So was my hearing, I still couldn't tell who it was but I could tell that he was most likely Southern, he had a think Southern accent. I tried to smile, it reminded me of Daryl.

"Good, where was the last place you were staying before you got injured?" He asked me. I tried to blink past the light, and it was slowly working, but I still couldn't really see. I blinked a few more times before answering him.

"Farm," I hissed.

"Who were you with?" The man asked me. I hesitated for a moment before answering, he wouldn't know who they were just by their names. So I decided to play along.

"Rick, Lori, and Carl Grimes. Andrea, Carol, T-Dog. Glenn Rhee. Hershel, Maggie, and Beth Greene. Daryl. Daryl Dixon. I need to get to him. I need to get back to them all," I said, panicking again. The man pushed me into the bed as soon as I tried to get up, and I fell back to the bed. The man tightened his hold on my shoulder and he cleared his throat.

"Rain, open your eyes. Look at me," the man ordered. I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes to the light. I wasn't sure if I'd blinked 20 or 200 times, but my vision was finally coming back to me. As the world came into focus a sudden dizzy spell hit me and I leaned over, dry heaving. "It's alright, you're OK," the man told me. Groaning, I looked up at the man, and squinted to avoid the direct blast of the light. The first thing I saw was dark hair that hit the nape of his neck, a dark gray long sleeve shirt covering him, and looking at his face, crystal blue eyes, that hid something in them. Elation? I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them once more, and this time, I let the tears rise to my eyes, and slip out.

"Daryl..." I breathed. He smiled at me, and not just a small smile, or a little half smile, a full blown huge smile. He laughed and leaned down over me, giving me a light hug, just barely grazing my body. Shaking, I raised my non injured hand to his face and laughed. I laughed like I'd never laugh again. "Oh my God, you-you found me. But how? I was dying, I-I-I was dead. Oh my God," I was shaking to the point that I probably looked like I was having a seizure, but I didn't care. Daryl was here, he was here. Right beside me. And I'd never let go. Pulling his head with the little strength I had left, I let him lead the rest of the way down to my lips.

He pushed his lips hard against mine, and I could feel him shaking against me. I smiled and let the tears run down my face. I couldn't believe it, he had found me. I still didn't know how. I suppose the river must have carried me down to the calm part, and somehow I hadn't drowned, or had my skull split open by a rock. I didn't know how long I had been glued to Daryl, and I didn't care until I heard a cough at the doorway. Breaking away from Daryl, he jumped up bright red, but I merely looked that way and smiled.

Rick walked into the room first, coming to the side of the bed, and grabbing my non injured hand, squeezing it. Lori and Carl followed him, Lori giving my shoulder a squeeze and Carl giving me a light hug. The Grimes family moved away as T-Dog stepped up, giving me a smile and patting my shoulder. Beth followed, smiling at me, and moving away. Glenn and Maggie stepped up next, both giving me huge smiles, and hugs. Carol walked up as they left my side and she gave me a guilty smile, to which I merely shook my head. She had nothing to be guilty for. I had told the both of them to leave, I was at fault for what had happened to me. Hershel was the last to walk in and he gave me a happy smile, motioning to the chair Daryl had been in. Daryl nodded at him. "Well Rain, obviously we're all extremely happy to see you alive, some more so than others," Hershel sent a look to Daryl, which the hunter scoffed at. I laughed, and immediately coughed. "Don't strain yourself, you've got some pretty bad injuries. May be a few months before you're up and at em on your own." I shook my head and went to argue before Hershel cut me off, "there's no arguing me on that one, you were within an inch of death when Daryl found you. Now you tell us what happened and we'll tell you what happened."

Within an inch of death? Well that's not too bad considering I had thought that I was dead. "Well, I was with Glenn and Daryl, like you all knew, then I went to find Rick and Shane. There was a- uh-" I went silent, not knowing what to say when Rick looked at me.

"Rain, we know what happened up until you were chased off into the woods. Can you tell us what happened after that?" He asked me. Oh good, that made it a lot easier.

I cleared my throat, "um I had about 20 on my tail. Not enough ammo and didn't wanna draw more to me. I was running through the woods when I remembered a river was there. Ran to the river and jumped in, didn't know if walkers could swim or not. Turns out they can't. I remember that one fell in after me and I fought with it. I cut my side on a rock and I came up with the idea to smash the walkers head with one of the rocks. I grabbed it by the hair, and pushed it into the rock, killed the walker but broke my fuckin hand. Anyways, the current pulled me under after that and when I came up, I must've hit my head, cuz it's black after that. Your turn, what happened after you found me?" I asked.

Daryl looked at me and sighed, "Glenn and I went looking for water. Found your gun in the bank, cleaned it up for ya, and ran upstream when I saw blood. Found you, layin there, on deaths doorstep and picked ya up. Brought ya back to camp. Hershel fixed ya up and Beth gave ya blood," Daryl told me.

I looked at Hershel and Beth and smiled, "thank you. To all of you. How long have I been out? And where's Andrea? Or Patricia for that matter?" I asked.

"Patricia and Andrea didn't make it," Rick told me. I sighed and looked at my lap. Sure I hated Andrea and I hardly knew Patricia, but that was no way for anyone to go. "But anyways, before we found you, my guess is that you were out for 5 days, since Daryl found you, it's been 4. Doesn't matter, you're awake now," Rick said, smiling at me.

"Alright, I know you may not wanna hear this Rain, but I think you should. Your injuries. It's a long list, some worse than others. Obviously you've got a ton of small cuts and bruises, those we're not concerned with. You do, however, have some bad gashes all over your body, Daryl has been cleaning and dressing them 3 times a day for you. I want you to let him to continue to do that," he told me. I nodded. "You must have hit your head on a rock coming up, and damn hard too. There's tiny dent in your skull, but not to worry, it's almost not even visible. There is I believe, a hairline fracture as well, I was worried about brain damage, but it appears you have none. You're very lucky. Your hand is, as you said earlier, shattered. I've reset all the bones, and your hand will heal, but you need to leave it be. Most likely for a few months. Maybe 4 or 5." I groaned but I knew that it was for the best. "There's your ankle too, I reset the bone, and I'm glad you weren't awake for it. You wouldn't have enjoyed it. There's a few fractures in the bones, so we have crutches for you when you can get up. All in all Rain, I'd say that you're one of the luckiest people I think that I've ever met. That should have killed you, but you made it."

I laughed and looked at the older man, "I'm far too stubborn to die. I haven't had all my fun yet." Everyone laughed and smiled at me. I smiled back and just took in the group.

Carol stepped forward and handed me a plastic bag. "It's food that we've been saving. You haven't eaten for almost 5 days and you expelled everything we tried to get you to drink. Be careful, take it slow," she warned me. I took the bag from her and gave her a small thank you. She smiled back and stepped away.

"Well, it seemed like we intruded on something, so I think we'll let you two catch up," Rick said, winking at me. The group began to leave, all murmuring how glad they were that I'd made it to me on their way out. "And Daryl, just call if you need anything." Daryl mumbled a few choice profanities as Rick left the room, which naturally made myself and Rick laugh. As Rick exited the room, he gently closed the door, and I looked into the bag of food. There were a few protein bars, two bottles of water, some dried fruit packets, and a bag of Skittles. I smiled and pulled out a protein bar and a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap proved to be difficult with one hand.

Daryl moved over and pulled the bottle from my hand. I was about to resist but he never gave me the chance. "No Rain. I know ya wanna be independent, but ya only got one hand. Ya gonna need some help for a while," he told me. I muttered curses at him, but he just ignored me and unwrapped the protein bar. As much as I wanted to swallow the thing in one bite, I knew that it wasn't smart. My body had barely been accepting water a few minutes ago. I took tiny bites of the bar, and I grumbled, realizing that it had taken me almost an hour to eat a damn protein bar. "So how ya feelin princess?" Daryl asked me.

I looked up at him and smirked. "Like I got chewed on by a lion, run over by a steamroller a few times, stabbed, and then fired out of a cannon," I told him. I saw the smirk cross his face as well.

"Yea, ya look like it too," I laughed and resisted the urge to hit him, not wanting to injure myself any further. "Want another?" Daryl asked, holding up another protein bar. I shook my head, I wanted to make sure that I could keep this one down before I tried another.

"So, what now?" I asked Daryl.

He shook his head and looked at me, "we don't know Rain. We've been here for a few days waiting for you to wake up. Right after I found ya we left where we were camping to get you to a place where we wouldn't be having to move you every day," he told me. Hmm, I'm honored, they cared so much that they went to find a house for us to stay just so I could heal.

"So I can assume that we're leaving soon? No offense to your find with this house but it looks like it could fall apart at any minute," I told him looking around the room. There were vines making their way into the room and the wallpaper was peeling. Not to mention there was an odd, lingering, smell. Although that was pretty much anywhere you went anymore.

He laughed and nodded at me, "we're gonna be leavin soon now that you're awake," he told me. "Don't worry about it though, we have a spot for you in the car, and I'll carry you out there," he told me.

"My Prince Charming," I told him, smirking. Daryl's face lit up a bright red and I couldn't help but to laugh. "Hey Daryl, can you help me sit up, I'm kinda sick of having to look up at you." He nodded and out his hands under my arms, pulling me to sit against the headboard. A pain unlike I'd ever felt shot through my body, but I was determined to ignore it and sit upright. I was gonna start healing. I didn't like to be weak and I didn't like to be dependent. I guess that came from leaving home at 14. I growled through the pain and made a plan, in one month I'd be up and walking, in 2 months I'd be able to walk without the crutches, in 4 months I'd get to working back with my bow and be able to strengthen my hand again. By 5 months I'd be back to normal. I would do it, I would not rely on them to help me forever.

I cried out, not able to stop myslef, and Daryl quickly released the pressure. "Rain, I can stop, are you OK?" He asked me.

"I'm fine, damn it, just help me sit up," I snapped at him. I saw the hurt briefly flash through his, and I felt bad but I had to do this. It was my first step in healing. I finally had my back up against the headboard and I hissed as the wounds on my back dug into the wood. "Alright, there we go. Thanks," I told him. He nodded and stayed silent. He went to move away and I put my arm out to stop him, "Daryl wait!" Stupidly I had flailed out my injured hand and hit him in the waist. Flaming pains flew through my pain and up my arm, "GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" I screamed. Daryl's face twisted into one of complete horror, and as my curses got quieter, I heard the laughter growing downstairs.

"Uh are you OK?" Daryl asked me. I shook my head at the stupid question and couldn't help but to laugh.

"What a stupid question Daryl. Yea, I'll be fine. Just hurt a bit, that's all. I'm fine now," I told him, fighting to keep the grimace off of my face. The truth was, it had hurt like hell. The pain had spread through my hand and was now radiating through my entire body, but I refused to tell him that, I wasn't weak, I would be OK.

"Rain. I ain't stupid. You're in pain. We have some medicine or somethin for it. Let me go get it," he said walking out of the room. I scowled to myself. No, I don't need them. We won't always have them and I can't rely on them, I do not need them. I'll be OK, I made it many years and many hospital visits without the pain medication- I always denied it- and I wouldn't need it now. Especially when we didn't have that much. Other people would need it more than me. "Here," Daryl said, walking into the room and putting his hand out with the pills in them. I refused to acknowledge that he was there. "Damn it Rain, just take em. Ya need em."

I scoffed at him, "no Daryl. Save them for someone who needs them," I told him. I waved his hand off with my non injured one.

He glared at me and grabbed my hand, prying my fingers open, shoving the pills into my hand. "Just take the damn things. Ya do need em! Ya were within a few minutes of death Rain! Ya need ta learn that every once and a while ya need help! I know ya don't want it, but right now ya need it. I just got ya back, and I'm not losin ya, cuz you're too stubborn to take a few damn pills." I stared at Daryl, not knowing what to say. I opened my eyes and cringed. He was right unfortunately, I had to take them, I couldn't risk infection, or a fever. Grabbing my bottle of water, I downed the pills as fast as I could.

"Alright, I did it. Happy? You can stop staring at me now. They're not hidden," I told him. He shook his head, and sat back down in the chair beside my bed. He sighed and looked down at his head.

I was off in my own little world, devising a plan for healing, when his voice startled me back into reality. "Rain, what you said when we were leaving the farm. Why did ya say it?" He asked. I could feel my heart shattering at the hopeless look that was written clearly across his face. I shifted, so that I was facing him better. He tried to stop me, but I pushed his hands away. I would figure this out. Crying out in pain slightly at every little move, Daryl continuously tried to get me to stop, but I kept shoving his hands off of me. Taking a deep breath, and biting down on my lip, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I let out a high pitched shriek, but I shut myself up quickly. Daryl jumped up and kept his arms planted firmly on my shoulders. "Rain are you-"

"No," I grit out, digging my nails on my non injured hand into my thigh. "My turn to talk." I slowly let out my breath, and took a few deep breathes, blinking back the tears that had come to the surface. I had to tell him how I felt, and I had to do it now, or else I'd lose my nerve. I think the only reason I had the nerve right now was because the pain was getting to me. I took in a deep breath and looked Daryl in the eyes. "Daryl Dixon, you listen to me right now, because I'll probably never get the nerve up to ever say it again. I meant every word that I said to you at the farm before we left. I do love you, and I don't know why or how it happened. I've never loved anyone before, I mean not even friends. It was always like I liked these people but love, I didn't think I was capable of love. Like not even my mom or dad, I liked them a lot but I don't know if I ever loved them. Especially toward the end. Shit Daryl, I don't know what you did that was so different, and I mean, I don't expect you to say it back but I just had to get this out. I just don't get it, I didn't even really like you at first and I know you didn't like me either but one day it was just like- bam!- I lo-" I had been rambling on and on when Daryl moved between my legs and kissed me, cutting me off. Good idea Daryl.

This kiss surprised me though, he usually started a kiss soft and unsure, but this time was different. He held my face between his hands  
>and kept our bodies pressed close together. He was gentle though, in order to avoid my injuries. I felt every nerve ending in my body light on fire, and this time it wasn't from pain. I let a small laugh escape my lips, I had never thought that I would kiss Daryl again, yet here we were. I guess fate isn't as cruel to me as I thought it was. He let one of his hands travel down to my waist, his touch as light as a feather. I could feel the goosebumps rise, and I felt the smile raise onto his lips. I smiled and let my non injured hand reach up to his neck, tugging lightly at his hair. It had gotten long, maybe I'd ask if I could cut it. I felt a tiny bit of air leave his nose and I smiled, he had incredible self control, but now I was determined to break it. I let my hand run down his neck ad over his shoulder to his torso; I could feel his body tense but he didn't stop it. I grabbed his shirt, balling it around my fist, and pulled his body closer to mine.<p>

I didn't know what had taken over Daryl, but in some sudden spurt of bravery, he used his height and strength to push me back onto the bed, using one of his arms to keep me from falling too fast and hurting myself more. I hissed in pain as I felt the wounds stretching, but I kept him pressed to me. I wasn't gonna let the pain get to me right now. With myself now fully on the bed, with my legs hanging off, Daryl didn't seem to know if he should keep going, but the haze in my brain was urging him to keep going. I put my hands on the back of his thighs, hoping to get the message across to him, and it seemed that I had. He put one leg on each side of me and let his body press into mine, lightly though. I smiled into the kiss and let my hands travel down to Daryl's lower back, playing with the hem of his shirt. He had ruffled my clothes slightly, and let my shirt rise to just below my bust. Feeling the material rise, I realized that they weren't mine. Who the hell had changed me? Ignoring my pointless thoughts, I felt Daryl's hand slide up my shirt, dangerously close to my chest. I took in a sharp breath and I felt Daryl smirk. OK, so he had caught onto me trying to push him, and he was playing back. Growling deep in my throat, I ran my hand up his back and let it fall over his shoulder. I ran my hand slowly down his torso, and let it fall at his belt. I felt him tense and his breath catch, but he didn't stop me. I pulled the extra belt from the loop and went to work on the buckle. I had just unhooked it when I heard a small "oh!" come from the doorway.

Shooting my head up, Daryl flew into the chair by my side and I looked up to see Maggie standing at the door with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "Well, I'm very sorry to interrupt what looked like fun but it's time to go. Rick wants us to leave. I'll give you two a minute to collect yourselves," she told us. She shook her head and laughed as she left the room.

Daryl was a color red that I had never seen before, and his clothes were ruffled. I knew that I must have been flushed and my clothes were all messed up. I smoothed down my shirt and looked at Daryl, who seemed to be standing there, waiting for me to tell him I was ready to go. "Uh just a suggestion Daryl, but you may want to fix that," I told him, motioning down to his pants. He blushed and mumbled a few choice profanities as he re buckled his belt. "Hey can I ask you something?" I looked up to Daryl who nodded. "Would you have- uh- you know?" I awkwardly asked him.

He looked down at me and shook his head, "of all the things ya coulda asked," he sighed.

"I just wanna know Daryl. I mean, I guess I'm more curious, what are we? Friends that occasionally have too much fun, or just friends? Do you not want anything from me? Just throw me a bone here, you're a hard man to read," I told him. I regretted saying it as soon as I had, but I needed to know. It was driving me insane not knowing what he considered us.

Daryl sighed and paced for a few moments, running his hand through his hair. He finally stopped in front of me and dropped into the chair, burying his head in his hands. Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have said anything. He finally looked up at me and sighed. "I don't know Rain. You're an odd one. I was never very uh, into anyone growin up. Never loved anyone either, guess we're in the same boat there huh? I suppose Merle was the closest to love I ever had. But I don't know, I just- you're- I don't know. I don't know what this is," he told me, motioning between us. "I mean, I don't want ya leavin anytime soon." My head popped up at that, so he did have some feelings for me.

"So, I guess you could say that we're um, together?" I asked him, my face, neck, and chest turning a bright red.

He laughed and nodded at me. "Yea, I suppose that's the best way to put it," he told me. I smiled and let out a deep breath. Well that was probably the most awkward way I'd ever began a relationship. "Alright, try to keep your muscles tight. I'm gonna pick ya up and bring ya downstairs, we're leavin now. And don't worry bout your shit, I got it. It's on the back of my bike."

My gaze brightened when he said that, grabbing me and lightly pulling me up. "Bike? Can I ride with you?" I asked. The hope was painfully evident in my voice. But hey, I always liked guys with bikes.

Daryl smiled and laughed, "sorry girl, but not while you're like that. Once you're healed you can ride with me. Carol will be with me until you get better." I huffed but nodded anyways. Naturally, I'd get injured right before he starts using the bike. I grunted as Daryl walked down the stairs, every jolt sent waves of pain through my body. Granted the pain wasn't as bad as it was. "Almost there, hang on," Daryl said as he came to the landing. He walked around a corner and went into the living room of the old house.

I noticed that everyone in the group was giving me odd looks, but they weren't really odd. It was more like they were smirking at me. "What are you all-" realization dawned on me and I grit my teeth. "As soon as I can walk, you're the first one I'm coming after Maggie." The girl in question laughed and grabbed Glenn's arm. The entire group was smiling at me and I felt a little awkward. Not only was I the center of attention, I was dependent on other people now. Two things that I had never been good with in the past. Wanting to get the attention off of me, I looked to our leader. "So, where to now Rick?"

Rick looked down at his map and shook his head, "I'm not really sure, I think we're best doing what T-Dog said. Head East, to the water, to the coast. Don't know what's out there, but won't hurt anymore to find out. Besides, we can't be moving around that much for a while. Between you being badly injured and Lori, we need a place to hunker down. Even if just for a few weeks."

T-Dog cut in and asked, "we'd need somewhere that has fences, good security. Where would that be?"

I thought, along with everyone else and spoke up. "A bank? School? Hell maybe even a prison? Not very comfy or homey, but it'd be secure at least. They've always got fences and lots of security. It would definitely take a while to clear out but it could make a good place to make a life."

"Not a bad idea, but I'm not sure I like the idea of living in a prison. What about finding another farmhouse? That worked pretty well for a while," Carol said.

Rick shook his head, "it's a good idea, but I have no idea where we could find one. We have the map of this area that Hershel gave us, and we're tracking hoards on it," Rick told me. Damn, that was actually a really good idea. "That's really gonna decide where we go. And as far as the farmhouse, they're falling apart. Even if we can fix it up, it's just wood. We can stay there, but just like this one, it'll eventually start to fall apart and walkers will be able to tear it down. I think Rain is right, we need to find a concrete, solid building. One that walkers wouldn't be able to get into."

I nodded at Rick and we all began to file out of the old farmhouse. Daryl walked out of the house, with me wrapped tightly in his arms. He led me over to the hatchback and laid me into the trunk area. "Well, at least I get to lay down," I joked with Daryl.

He smirked at me and laid his hand on my head, where I hadn't hit it. He smoothed the hair there and moved it out of my face. "I'll come get ya when we stop, try to get some rest while we're driving," he told me, brushing my hair behind my ears. I nodded to him and let my eyes slip shut.

"Hey Daryl?" I called to him before he could walk away. He hummed back to me in response. "Do you really think we'll make it out here, through winter?" I asked him, opening one eye.

He seemed to think about it for a minute before looking at me, "I know we will," he told me, before moving off to his bike. Carol hopped on behind him, and she flashed me a small smile. I smiled back to her, before Maggie hopped into the trunk, closing the trunk door. I sighed and closed my eyes as I felt the engine roar to life. This is just a new start, a new life for us to build. This isn't the end, it's our new beginning.

A/N: Well obviously this chapter is written from my imagination, so I hope you guys liked it! But yay, Rain is alive! I like to almost kill my OC a few times during a story. So I wanted to tell you guys that I'm going to skip ahead to season 3 and very briefly explain Rain's recovery an whatnot. Also, not to worry, I will explain the dog picture and hospital slip soon. I wanted to know if you guys would want flashbacks to the group during winter to see what was happening while we don't see the group? Or if you guys liked Rain's scene with Daryl ;) Too much? Too little? As always thank you to **sherrymerry, ambertyle, castiels, esmecruz2095567** for the follows and favorites. And a huge thank you to **ambertyle** **and Dain27** for their lovely reviews! Let me know in a review! They really make me happy! -A


	23. I Told You So

7 Months Later

I silently moved up to the door of the house, knocking an arrow, and pulling the bow string so that it was taunt. I watched Rick kick down the doors, and immediately take down a walker, T-Dog killing the other. Daryl, Carl, and myself followed in after, ready to check the house. I scanned the room quickly with my eyes and sighed seeing that there were no other walkers in sight. I moved into the room, keeping my arrow aimed in front of me, just in case one was still hiding somewhere. Daryl tapped me on the shoulder, nodding his head to the back of the house. I nodded back to him and kept close behind him as we checked the back of the house. I noticed that Carl and Rick were going off to the sides, and T-Dog was staying up in the front. Daryl and I quickly moved into the back of the house, where it looked like there was a small office and living room. Looking around for anything useful, or even any type of food I growled, there was absolutely nothing useful in this damn house. Daryl tapped me on the shoulder, motioning to a garage attachment in the back corner. I nodded and let him in through first. We slowly moved through the area, not seeing any walkers. I jumped as I heard a thumping up ahead, and looking up, I saw that it was a door that led back into the house. Daryl motioned to the door and I nodded. He had been about to open the door when it flew open from the other side. I prepared to loose my arrow when I noticed that the figure that had thrown open the door, was Rick.

I sighed and released my grip on the arrow, re-sheathing it. I threw my bow back over my shoulder and nodded at Rick. Grimacing, I loosened my arm guard that I'd gotten a few months back on a trip to a hunting store Daryl and I had taken. Hershel had insisted that if I was going to pick up the bow again, that I get an arm/hand guard to protect my hand. Looking back, it was probably a good idea, it did a good job at keeping all of the bones from badly stretching.

Over the past 7 months though, I'd gone almost back to normal. It had taken me about a month and a half, but I was finally allowed to get up from the beds that I would be stuck in. Hershel had allowed me to get up and use the crutches they had found, but only with someone watching me. What a drag that next month had been. Finally, I was allowed to walk around on my own after almost 3 months, and after the 4th, I was walking without the crutches. It had taken me a few months to get used to the slight limp with my weaker foot, but the limp had gradually gone away, and I was now able to walk around normally. My hand had taken a long time to heal as well, Hershel hadn't even let me hold anything until the 3rd month of winter. When I had finally begun to use the crutches on my own, I had had to learn to use my hand again. Not long after that, I had insisted in picking up my knives, gun, and bow again to re-learn how to use them. Naturally, Daryl had thought that it was a bad idea, and it wasn't just him; Hershel, Beth, T-Dog, and even Rick for a while had agreed with him. I had fought everyone tooth and nail on it, and finally I got everyone to cave- well everyone but Daryl that was. Needless to say, that had led to quite the magnificent fight between the 2 of us. And not long after that fight, we'd had to leave, retreating from the hoard we'd drawn to us. Besides the 2 worst injuries, my cuts and bruises had quickly disappeared. I had headed to a stream we had been by a few months after my accident and washed myself off and sure as shit, there was a tiny dent in my skull, but like Hershel had said, it was barely noticeable. It had taken me almost all of the last 7 months to heal, but I had tried to be patient, I had been on the brink of death, I wasn't gonna heal overnight.

I sighed and turned away from Rick, heading with Daryl to go upstairs, calling to T to come check with us. I slowly walked into the middle room on the floor, which ended up being a small bedroom that had been torn to bits, most likely other survivors. I shook my head and walked into the hall again, running into Daryl, who had a dead owl in his hands. "I always thought that owls were beautiful," I told him.

"Yeah, well I hope they taste good," Daryl grumbled, pulling the feet off of the bird. I gagged at the sight, and followed him down the flight of stairs. I dropped my bow on the floor and heard Rick whistle a call to tell the rest of the group that the house was safe now. I took my bag from Carol and gave her a small smile, setting the bag down next to my bow and turning back around to the group.

I walked over to a very pregnant Lori and helped her set her stuff down, "here ya go. No need for you to do it on your own," I smiled at the older woman who thanked had just dropped all of our stuff off and sat down when T nudged my leg, forcing me to look out the window. I cocked my eyebrow at him and followed his gaze to the window. Shit. It was walkers, a bunch of them headed right for the house. Rolling my eyes, I and the rest of the group, jumped up, grabbed my stuff and led the group, with Daryl, out of the house and back to the safety of the cars. I followed close behind Daryl and jumped onto his bike as he revved the engine. Not even a moment later, he was tearing down the road, with the rest of the group on our tails.

As much as I hated being on the road, I loved being on the bike. It had been about 5 months after my accident that Hershel had told me that I was finally OK to ride with Daryl, needless to say, I wasn't too heartbroken when we got chased out of the house by walkers a few hours later. I jumped slightly as I heard the horn sound from Rick's truck, Daryl stopped the engine of his bike and I got off, allowing him room to move off as well. I walked over to the hood of the hatchback where Maggie and Glenn had rolled out the map we had been tracking the herds on. I stared at the map for a moment, and my heart sank, we were probably only a day or so away from being cut off by 2 huge hoards of walkers.

"We got no place left to go," T-Dog groaned. I hated to say it, but he was right, we were running out of places to run and Lori was ready to give birth any day now it seemed.

Maggie pointed onto the map, pointing out what I had just been thinking. "When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south."

"She's right, there's no way we can make it through either. They were way too big to fight our way through, we'd get caught in the herds," I spoke up.

Daryl walked over to the car and leaned onto the hood, his arm brushing against mine. "What would you say? That was about 150 head?" He asked.

"That was last week. It could be twice that by now," Glenn said. He was right, the herds seemed to pick up more walkers day by day.

Hershel turned to Glenn saying, "this river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there." I shook my head, we could go as fast as we wanted, there was no way we'd make it through in time. That herd was gonna make it there before us no matter what.

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way," T-Dog said pointing onto the map.

Maggie sighed and shifted on one foot, "so we're blocked."

Rick pointed out a town that we'd already gone through and told us "only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville."

T scratched his head and scoffed. "Yeah, we picked through that already. It's like we spent the winter going in circles." That's probably because we have, every time we start to get somewhere, another herd chases us back.

"Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. Need to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks," Rick said, looking to Lori, who was waiting in the car for us to make a decision.

T-Dog nodded and started to back off, along with everyone else but Hershel and Rick, while Daryl and myself stood a little off to the side. "All right. It cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We got to fill up on water. We can boil it later."

"Knock yourself out," Rick called to T-Dog.

"She can't take much more of this moving about," Hershel told Rick.

"What else can we do? Let her give birth on the run?" Rick asked, obviously upset that we had still yet to find a place to settle down for more than a few nights.

"Do you see a way around that?" Hershel asked, putting his hand on Rick's shoulder.

I saw Hershel walk away from Rick and I shook my head. Grabbing the rag from Daryl to wipe the bike down, I saw him look up at Rick, and I stopped to watch the 2. "Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot," Daryl said. I smiled at him as Rick nodded and went for the woods. I turned back to the bike when I felt Daryl's hand on my shoulder. "Ya comin girl? Or ya gonna play housewife?" I smacked Daryl's hand away from me and stood up, shouldering my bow and motioning for him to lead the way.

Daryl scowled at me and I scoffed. "Well? Ladies first," I told him, an arrogant smirk on my face. He scoffed and shoved me ahead of him, growling obscenities behind me. I smiled, and as I caught up with Rick, I saw that he was trying hard to fight back a smile. The 3 of us headed into the woods, carefully avoiding branches that would crack under our weight. We hadn't been walking long when we caught sight of railroad tracks. "Should we follow em?" I asked.

"Might lead us somewhere," Rick said, jumping down onto the tracks. Daryl followed and turned back, grabbing my waist and helping me jump down. I was mostly healed but I still got a shooting pain whenever I took too much weight on my ankle. I thanked Daryl and the 2 of us sped up to catch up with Rick.

Following the tracks for about half a mile, we still didn't see anything. Well, that was, until we did. There was a break in the trees, and I could see what looked like a massive building. I jogged slightly ahead and smirked at what I saw. A prison. Well God damn, I was right. It was perfect, fenced in, heavy doors, probably an armory and infirmary, maybe even a kitchen. I felt my stomach growl at the thought of real food, rather then whatever we could manage to scrounge up. The only issue was that the courtyard was filled with walkers.

"That's a shame," Daryl said, looking at the walkers in the yard.

Rick however, seemed to have a different idea. "No, we can take the walkers down, take the yard. This would be a perfect place to call home. Settle down here, clear it out little by little."

I nodded at Rick and grabbed his arm, "Rick, there are usually infirmaries in prisons. We could get something to help Lori when the time comes, she would have somewhere private. She won't have to worry about keeping quiet since we barely have any type of pain medication that won't jeopardize the pregnancy. This could be where we settle down. Where we make a life," I told him. I couldn't help but to look over to Daryl at the last part, and I saw that he was looking at me as well. I smiled at him and looked back to Rick.

Our leader nodded and looked at the two of us, pulling us together. "I have a plan, but we need everyone, we have to go back and get them." I nodded and broke off into a sprint. Despite the severely messed up ankle I had, it had almost healed back to the way it had been. I wasn't quite as fast as I had been, but I was still faster than everyone else, with the exception of Glenn. I cut through the trees and a few minutes later, I burst into our small clearing.

I had my hands on my knees, I was desperately trying to regain my breath. "W-we, we f-f-found a place, a p-place for us t-to st-stay." I took a few more deep breaths and stood up. I noticed that everyone looked extremely concerned for my health, and I shook away the hand that Maggie placed on my shoulder. I took one more deep breath and spat out, "a prison. Not far from here. Gates, everything. We have to clear the yard and most likely the cell blocks. But it'll be secure. A place to actually build a life." I noticed the smiles forming on everyone's faces and I smiled myself. I jumped at the sight of Rick and Daryl crashing through the trees after me and I laughed at the surprise on their faces.

"Did- did ya-?" I cut Daryl off and laughed.

"Yes Daryl, I told them. Now Rick, as soon as you're feeling better, how about telling us this magnificent plan of yours?" I asked, looking at our leader, who looked as if he was about to vomit. Both men dropped on their knees and I laughed at the looks on their faces. "Ya know, we are in the apocalypse, just a suggestion- you may wanna stay fit because at the rate y'all are goin-" I had been making fun of them when Daryl put his arm on the back of my knee and pulled, knocking me off balance. "Gah!" I yelled as I fell into Daryl's lap. I hit him over the head and jumped back up. He laughed and stood up beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

Rick laughed and stood as well, "alright you two, knock it off for a few minutes. Look, we can make it to the gates of the prison. We have wire cutters and we can make it into the first of the two fences. I have a wire to re-wrap the gate as well, so that will keep the walkers away while we figure it out."

"Sounds good so far, but we can't stay in that gravel filled walkway all night. We need to actually get in there," I told Rick.

He nodded at me and sighed. "Yeah but I've gotta get up close to see how we can clear the field. I'd only be making guesses from far away. Now, we get the cars and drive over to the prison. We stay about a mile out, later, when we've cleared the yard we can go back for them. But the engine's draw them to us and we can't afford that. So we'll go up to the fence, cut it open, get in and reseal it. And everyone make sure to grab a partner, someone to watch after you and vice versa." I looked up at Daryl who was next to me, and he nodded.

"So we ready to go?" I asked. Rick, and everyone else nodded. I began to make my way to Daryl's bike before turning back, "oh, and follow Daryl and I. We'll get us there through the back roads." The rest of the group nodded once more and went to their respective vehicles. I walked over to Daryl's bike and hopped on behind him. I settled my chin onto his back and sighed. "So what do you think? Think we can make this an actual life?" I asked him, keeping my arms loose around his waist.

He revved the engine and started the bike off. I rolled my eyes thinking he was ignoring me, however, he surprised me when he spoke up. "I actually think that this one might just work," he said. I smiled and nuzzled into his back. The first time I'd ever done it a few months ago, I thought that it had bothered him, but I happened to look over his shoulder and into the mirror. I had smirked when I noticed that he had a small smile on his face. Daryl wasn't exactly affectionate in public, but he did little things. Placing a hand on my shoulder as he walked past, letting his hand slide across my back, nudging me, or playing little pranks on me. The only time he would really be affectionate is when we were on hunting trips, or late at night when neither of us could sleep- and we knew that no one would come over. None of it bothered me though, I wasn't overly fond of PDA either. I suppose that had always been the way I was, I was sad to say that I wasn't a stranger to one night stands- not that I'd had a new guy every night, but I'd had a few- but those were in private. The times I had a steady boyfriend, I never even liked to hold their hands in public. That was the good thing with Daryl, he didn't like that stuff at all, probably even less than me. I knew that Daryl, unlike me, had never been fond of a one night stand, that wasn't the type of guy he was. But I liked that, that might have been the reason that it was love and not lust with him.

I glanced back and saw that Maggie had her head resting on Glenn's shoulder. I smiled. The two had become very close over the winter, and it was no secret that every time they went on a supply run they got a little, well let's say closer. I turned back, resting my head and letting a sour look cross my features. That, Daryl and I had yet to do. And shit, we'd been physically close for almost 8 months. I wondered if he was maybe a virgin. He didn't give me that vibe, but it was possible. He always did say that he was never very close to anyone. I mean, neither was I, but still, it was possible. Maybe if I ever grew the balls, I'd ask him. After all, we'd never go past serious kissing, and some clothes where they weren't supposed to be, before he'd stop us.

I was jerked from my thoughts when Daryl poked my shoulder to get me to stand up. I looked around and noticed that we were outside the woods where the prison was located. Whoa, how did I not even notice? Shaking my head, I stood up and walked behind Daryl and Rick. We gathered around in a circle and Rick spoke up. "Alright, I've got the wire cutters so I'll open the fence. Women through first. After that, we'll head up to the gate, we move fast, just in case. No one brings the stuff just in case, we'll come back for it after we clear the yards. Everyone ready?" Rick asked. Everyone nodded in response.

Rick ran through the woods as silently as possible, with Daryl and I right behind him. We broke the tree line and ran over to the fence. I, along with T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, and Daryl watched the yard to make sure none of the walkers that were outside the fence were getting too close. I turned to check Rick's progress as I noticed that more and more walkers were headed toward us. My heart rate picked up, and I released my breath as I saw that he finally got a gap open big enough for us to fit through. Glenn and Maggie killed two walkers that had gotten too close and I released an arrow when one had gotten a little too close to Lori. Rick and Daryl went through, holding the gate open, so it wouldn't cut anyone. Quickly, everyone shuffled in, with me running in last, moving out of the way so that Daryl and Glenn could tie it up and secure the broken fence. Glenn had been about to secure the top of the broken fence tighter when a female walker came dangerously close to scratching him through the fence. He jumped back and we ran through the open area, myself and Daryl leading the pack. I grimaced as I saw that walkers were coming up to the fence on both sides of the fence, it felt like we were trapped. Reaching another fence, Daryl pried it open, and we continued our run through the prison yard. Coming up to the final fence, I stared into the yard, it was great, but still, it was covered in walkers.

Rick stared into the yard and smiled. "It's perfect. If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight." Rick pointed up to the gate at the top of the yard. He was right, if we could close that, we could close off the field. And between all of us, we could pick off these walkers in the yard. The only thing is, someone would have to run, and risk their own life to shut the gate.

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel voiced my thoughts.

After a beat of silence, Glenn stepped up. "I'll do it. You guys cover me."

"No. It's a suicide run. I'm the fastest. I might ask Rain to do it, but I'm faster after she hurt her ankle," Glenn pointed to my foot.

I nodded, "Maggie, I'd go if I could, but Glenn's right, he has the best chance to make it over there."

Rick walked over to Glenn and put his hand on the young man's shoulder. "No, you, Maggie, and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Rain, you're as good, go with him, help keep any that are getting too close to me away. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot," Rick nodded and motioned for her to go to the tower as well. "Take your time. We don't have a lot of ammo to waste," I heard him tell Carol, as I bounded up the stairs behind Daryl.

"Hershel, you and Carl take this tower. I'll run for the gate," I could hear Rick say as we made our way up the stairs. As I made it onto the top landing, Daryl nodded me to take the far corner and he took the closest, since he was the best with long range shots. Carol made it up to the top a moment later, and Daryl motioned her to take the middle of the tower. I glanced off to the side hearing Glenn, Maggie, T-Dog, and Beth calling to the walkers through the fence. Damn, they were actually taking out a lot of them. I smiled, this just might work, by tonight we may have a home. An actual home. I looked right down below us and saw that Lori had opened the fence to let Rick out. Just as she did, I pulled out an arrow and nocked it, ready to shoot at anything that got too close to Rick. Daryl fired an arrow at a walker that had been dangerously close to Rick, and at that, everyone else in the towers began to fire as well.

I shot at a small group of walkers, trying to catch up to Rick, one after the other. I let out a breath as I realized that Rick was making it up the yard faster than expected. I took down 2 more walkers, and turned when I heard Carol yell out a sorry. I realized that she had almost shot Rick and I called to her, "hey Carol. Might wanna let Daryl and I take care of the ones that are that close to Rick." She nodded and started to shooting at the ones loitering in the middle of the yard. I sighed as Rick latched the gate, and shot at the group that was closing in on him.I let out a deep breath when he ran into the room, now God hope that nothing is waiting for him in there.

"He did it," Carol said smiling.

I laughed and turned to the both of them, "make the call Daryl. Rick is up there. We got it," I waved to Rick, who was now at the top of the third watch tower.

Daryl turned to the field and yelled out to the other group members. "Light it up!" And with that, we all turned on the field and took down the remaining walkers. I fired shot after shot, saving my arrows, and took down walker after walker. As the last walker fell I brought Carol into a hug and turned to Daryl smiling.

"Welcome home guys," I smiled.

Carol stared into the yard and laughed, "I'll be damned, we're making our home a prison, Rain." I stared at her, confused as to what she was talking about, when I remembered. I had told her about making a prison as a home as a possibility. She had laughed it off then, but now it was a reality.

I poked at her shoulder and said to her, "I told you so." She laughed and nudged me away from her. As we took to the stairs, I muttered, "damn it. I should have made a bet." At that, even Daryl snorted.

"Fantastic," Carol called as we walked around the side of the first guard tower. I smiled at her excitement.

"Nice shooting," Daryl told her as he followed.

Carol smiled, not looking back and said, '"yeah." As we walked through the open gate, I patted Lori on the shoulder and smiled at her. "You okay?" I heard Carol ask.

"I haven't felt this good in weeks," Lori replied, holding her stomach.

"Good. Oh! Oh! We haven't had this much space since we left the farm," Carol yelled, stretching her arms out.

"Whoooo!" T-Dog yelled after Glenn killed a walker that hadn't been shot, but was laying on the ground. I smiled and took a step away from Daryl. I let out a loud whoop and did a walkover. Yea, I still remembered some stuff from gymnastics. Daryl laughed and wrapped an arm around my waist. The rest of the group were laughing and clapping as well.

"Watch it girl, just fixed ya up," Daryl told me. I laughed and squeezed his waist before pulling away from him. We made our way up to the field when Rick called us all into a circle.

"Alright, so we have the field now. We need to get the cars and pull them up here. Daryl, T, you come with me to get the cars. Rain, Maggie, Carol, and Beth can you girls set up camp out here in the yard?" Rick asked us. I nodded, along with the other 3. Daryl and T moved off to the edge of the fence. "Hershel and Glenn, can you two check on Lori?" Both nodded and went to go check on said woman who was sitting a ways off. "Good, we'll be back. We'll honk when we get here, Rain will you be able to open the gate for us?" Rick asked me. I nodded at him. He smiled at me and patted me on the shoulder before moving to the gate.

I ran over to Daryl before the 3 of them left and I grabbed his arm. "Hey Daryl, be careful out there OK?" I told him. I didn't know why I had done that, but something had come over me in that moment.

He laughed and smiled at me. "Ain't I always?" I glared at him and he put his hands on my arms. "Rain, I'll be careful OK?" I nodded at him and went to walk away when he called back to me. "Why ya suddenly so worried, like a little girl?" He teased, knowing that I hated when he said anything like that.

I turned back to him and growled, "just don't need to clean your damn blood off of me when you get back here," I sneered at him. I turned away and heard his scoff. I rolled my eyes knowing that he had been trying to get the best of me, which he had. I walked back over to where the women had started setting up camp and I grabbed the stakes for what I thought was Hershel and Beth's tent.

Carol moved next to me, helping me run stake through the material of the tent. "So Rain, you and Daryl disappeared for a while the other day," Carol wiggled her eyebrows at me. I scoffed at her insinuation and saw that Maggie was stifling a laugh and Beth's eyebrows had shot to her hairline. I turned to the older woman and rolled my eyes.

"I wish Carol, but it was just a hunting trip. I don't know what the hell it is with Daryl but he just won't! I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or he doesn't want to but he- he just won't get physical!" I yelled exasperated. I sighed and dropped to the ground tying the tent down before pushing the stake into the ground.

I looked up and saw that Maggie had come over to me and offered me a hand up. I took it and saw that Carol was narrowing her eyes at me and Beth's face was bright red. " I dunno Rain, I've walked in on you guys twice and neither time looked like he wasn't getting physical," she told me. Well, she was right about that.

"It's just that Maggie! Once we get past that, there is no past that! That's when he cuts it off," I scoffed.

Beth moved over to me and looked me in the eyes, "that seemed pretty intimate. You want more than that?" She asked me. I smiled at Beth's innocence and shook my head.

"Not trying to make myself look bad Beth, but yeah, I want more. I want- you know. I don't even need it, but I want a damn reason that he won't! It's not like there aren't condoms! I know we have them! It's just, it seems like he wants to do it and then we get there and he just stops. Like I hit him or something."

The younger girl blushed and Carol stepped in. "Rain, that man loves you so much. Anyone can see that, and we're all thrilled for you. For you both. The two of you deserve happiness. Maybe he's afraid of hurting you? Or getting a little too close?"

I sighed. She was right. Daryl had been severely damaged by his father and it was still with him to this day. I nodded at Carol as we started on her tent. I heard Beth clear her throat and I looked up at the younger girl. "Is it possible he's a um. Well you know. A virgin?" She asked, shuffling her feet. I smiled at her innocence and shook my head.

"Ya know, I had thought that at one point but I really doubt it. He knows what he's doing, and at least some of it is from experience. I dunno, maybe he's just afraid like you said Carol. Beth, you don't have to answer, but are you?" I asked the younger girl as we finished on Carol's tent. We moved over to the Grimes family tent and I saw that it was the last to be pitched. Glenn had gotten his own and Maggie's as well as T's and the one that Daryl and I would share.

I didn't miss the young Greene daughter's eyes bug out for a moment. "Well yeah, I think you're supposed to wait for the right guy." I smiled at her and nodded my head. It was good that she thought that way.

Maggie immediately cut in and said, "good. Keep it that way." We all laughed at Maggie playing the older sister role well. I squeezed Maggie's shoulder and went to the other side of the tent. I was caught up in tying off the broken end of the tent when Beth spoke up again.

"Did I wait too long? Are you supposed to lose it earlier?" She asked. I let a surprised look cross my face and I looked around to see that Maggie and Carol wore a face similar to mine.

Knowing that Maggie was too stunned to say anything, I decided to speak up. "Beth, it's something that everyone has their own ideals on. Some people wait until marriage, some people wait until they're in love, and others well they don't really wait for anything. It doesn't say anything about you other than the fact that you were strong enough to say no and wait. And I respect you for that," I told the younger Greene girl. I looked up and saw Carol give me a small nod and Maggie giving me an appreciative smile.

Beth seemed to soak that in before looking over to me and asking, "how long did you wait?"

I sighed, figuring that she would eventually ask that. I could answer truthfully, or I could lie. But I was trying to give advice, I might as well be truthful. "In all honesty Beth, not long. Not as long as I should have waited. I had only been dating the guy that I was with a few weeks, and I was young. Way too young to be doing something like that. If I could take it back I would. I would have waited much longer. After that, I kind of lost respect for that. It wasn't as serious as it had been, and I was being too careless, and doing it way too much with the wrong people."

"What stopped you?" Carol asked.

I sighed again, I would give her the answer but nothing more. That was a story that I wasn't in the mood to share. "I came close to being a victim of something unforgivable. Carol, when did you do it?" I asked, trying to deflect the attention from me.

The older woman wore a stunned face for a moment before clearing her throat and gathering her thoughts. "Well, I was older. I think I was 22. First guy I ever loved. Mitchell. In his damn basement while we were supposed to be clearing his basement out. His parents were right upstairs." I couldn't help it, the shock was evident on all of our faces. Mild mannered Carol doing something like that. I burst out laughing and was soon joined by the others. As our laughter calmed down, I turned to Maggie and asked her the same thing.

"Ugh, he was a moron. John. Bad lover too. It was in the stables outside the house while Dad was out with the rest of the family, I had volunteered to clean the house while they were gone," she told us. I smiled, thinking that that was exactly something that Maggie would do.

"Wait a minute! I remember that day! Is that why you were doing the laundry when we came back?" Beth asked her sister. That time, there was absolutely no controlling the laughter. As we finished pitching the tent, we were dying from laughter. I smiled as the laughter died down, and I went to walk over where Glenn and Hershel were making a fire pit. Just as I began to make my way there I heard a honk of a car horn. Turning and sprinting to the gate, I waited until I saw the headlight of Daryl's motorcycle. As I saw him, I let out a small relieved sigh. I opened the gate and allowed him, Rick, and T-Dog to come into the prison again before I closed the gate and locked it.

I turned and saw that Daryl was waiting right behind me and he nodded for me to get onto the bike. I smiled and hopped on, watching as he followed Rick and T to the edge of the field where they parked the vehicles. He turned the ignition off and allowed me to slide off first. "So everything was fine?" I asked him.

He nodded and told me, "yeah, a few walkers but we were in and out of there." I nodded back to him and we returned to camp where dinner was being prepared. Now that we could have a full fire, everything would actually be cooked properly. I sighed and went to helping skin the few fresh squirrels we had left.

About an hour later, after the sun had set, I was eating the rest of my dinner with the group. Well besides Rick and Daryl, they were on watch. I sighed, knowing full well that Daryl hadn't eaten yet. I stood up, grabbing what was left and I walked to the bus that Daryl had situated himself on top of. He was pacing as I approached, still having not noticed me. I was crawling up the bus when Daryl finally spotted me. He reached into the bus and grabbed my waist, easily hoisting me onto the roof. I handed him the small plate of food which he just stared at. "It's not much, but if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all. And hell, you need to eat. We all do."

Daryl scoffed and threw his head toward the groups fire. "I guess Little Shane over there has got quite the appetite," he said, taking a piece of the meat. I couldn't help but laugh, hey he might be right after all.

"Don't be mean," I said, not really meaning it. "Rick's gotten us a lot farther than I ever thought he would, I'll give him that. I didn't expect us to make it through half the winter at the rate we were going there for a while."

"Mm-hmm," Daryl nodded.

"Shane could never have done that," I told him. A quick shot of pain went through my shoulder. I had been using a rifle for the first time in a long time today and I'd forgotten how powerful the kick on those were. I rolled it a few times hoping that the pain would go away. Another shot of pain went through me and I grimaced.

Daryl gave me a concerned look and I couldn't help but be slightly happy. I liked when he showed that he cared. "What's wrong?"

I shrugged my shoulders at him. "It's that rifle. The kickback. I'm just not used to it. I haven't used a rifle in years."

"Hold on," he told me positioning himself behind me. I tensed slightly when I felt his hands on my shoulder but relaxed when I realized that he was trying to work the knots out. He was good at it, hard but not so hard that it hurt. I let out a small groan at how good it felt, and I could practically feel his smirk at my small noise. Far too soon he dropped his hands and turned me around. "Better get back," he said.

I turned back to the yard and rolled my eyes. OK then, how about the blunt approach? "It's pretty romantic. Want to screw around?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Pfft," he blew out some air and laughed slightly, thinking that I was joking. I grit my teeth and went to leave, however, something stopped me. I whipped back around to him and stood face to face with him. He gave me an odd look and opened his mouth but I cut him off.

"Why Daryl, why? I don't get it," I asked him. Even though I knew that he had no idea what I was asking him. He went to say something again before I cut him off once more. "No. I just- why don't you ever want to do anything? And even the few times that you have done something, it ends just like that. Why don't you want to do anything more than kiss? Is it something I did? Was I not what you wanted? Was I doing something wrong? Or are you embarrassed? Because I won't judge you no matter what it is. I don't care if you're a-" I was cut off by Daryl smashing his mouth into mine. I sighed and melted into him, pressing my body against his. I was pretty sure that I would have fallen over had he not been clinging to me like I was a second skin. I smiled into the kiss, and I felt Daryl give a small smirk.

He broke away from me and I was sure that I had a stupid grin plastered on my face. I smiled at him and he scoffed, "ya meant like that?" He asked me. The smile dropped off of my face and I scowled.

"No Daryl. Not like that." He gave me a confused look and I sighed. "Daryl, it's just that. You just- you stop after a few minutes." He opened up his mouth to talk but I cut him off before he could speak. "And don't give me that bullshit that you don't want to hurt me or we never have time alone or we'll be caught by walkers. You won't hurt me, trust me. And yes we do, we go out hunting together and it's not exactly like we have a time limit to be back by. And as far as walkers, it's not like we can't lock a door if we find a house or something. So I don't get it. Why won't you do anything?" I asked, clearly upset.

He sighed and made a few paces on the bus. "Rain. I don't know why, I just. I never did that kinda stuff. I mean I did, but hardly ever. I never felt close enough. But- I guess..." he trailed off and I stared at his back for a second.

I looked at him, and just stared for a while before the answer that I had been searching for all winter dawned on me. "Oh my God. You're afraid that if we do, I'll leave you. I'll have gotten what I wanted and I'll give up on you," I whispered. I wasn't really sure if I wanted him to hear that or not. Judging by how stiff he was, I figured that he knew. Normally I would have been upset, I would have been mad. But the way he looked broke my heart. He had been so damaged as a kid that it had carried over well into his adult life. I walked slowly up to him, and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Isn't it?" I whispered to him.

He stood silent for so long that even I had forgotten my question. I had been about to turn around when I heard him utter a tiny. "Mm-hmm." I sighed but said no more on the matter. I went to turn away from Daryl, but I felt like I couldn't just leave him like that. Walking around to stand in front of him, I curled my hand around his and leaned my head on his chest. He didn't wrap his arms around me, but he wasn't tense either.

I moved my lips up to his ear and whispered to him. "I won't you know. I don't know why, but I won't." I stood on my tip toes and give him a light kiss on the lips. Settling back on the balls of my feet, I felt him squeeze my hand and I smiled. "Let someone else take guard duty for a while Daryl, get some sleep tonight. The tent is pitched if you plan on sleeping in it tonight." He nodded at me and I sat down on the edge of the bus before pushing off. Landing in a crouch, I hissed quietly at the sharp pain that went through my leg, before standing up and going to move to the rest of the group.

"Gonna break that damn ankle again if ya keep doin shit like that. Then I'm gonna have to carry your ass again," Daryl called to me from on top of the bus. My eyes slit a little and I had to resist picking up a rock to throw at him.

"Shut the hell up, Dixon," I sneered. Not really meaning it of course. He snorted and I rolled my eyes, making my way to camp. I walked up to the fire hearing Hershel prodded at Beth. Something about singing some song or another. Ugh, I miss my music.

Hershel nudged his youngest daughter and I looked over at the pair. "Bethy, sing Paddy Reilly for me. I haven't heard that, I think, since your mother was alive." God no, that was an awful song. I scrunched up my nose and Beth saw, laughing at me.

"Daddy, not that one, please," Beth begged her father.

He looked to be in deep thought before speaking up again. "How about 'Parting Glass'?" He asked her.

"No one wants to hear," Beth said looking embarrassed.

Hershel looked slightly disappointed. "Why not?" He asked her.

She sighed but nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath and started. "Of all the money e'er I had, I spent it in good company. And all the harm e'er I've ever done alas it was to none but me and all I've done for want of wit to memory now I can't recall so fill to me the parting glass good night and joy be with you all oh, all the comrades that e'er I had were sorry for my going away and all the sweethearts that e'er I had would wish me- one more day to stay- I had some." I smiled as Maggie joined in with her sister. "But since it falls unto my lot that I should rise and you should not I'll gently rise and I'll softly call good night and joy be with you all good night and joy be with you all." The two sisters finished and I started a small round of applause for them. They both had pretty voices.

"Beautiful," Hershel said smiling at his daughters. Clearly proud.

Carol smiled and stood up. "Better all turn in."

T-Dog stood as well and said, "I'll take watch over there." He pointed up to the top of the fences, opposite where Daryl was keeping watch on top of the bus.

Rick stood as well and I followed suit. "Got a big day tomorrow," he told us. Myself and the rest of the group gave him odd looks, wondering why he was saying that it would be a big day.

"What do you mean?" Lori asked.

Rick sighed and turned, motioning to the prison. "Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we've got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact. They'd have an infirmary, a commissary." He seemed so happy, and he was right, we would probably find all that stuff here. The only thing was, would it mean someone dying in the process?

"An armory?" Hershel asked.

Prison's have armories, but they normally are off to the side and slightly hidden. That might take a while to find. I'd focus on the other stuff." I was sad to say that I knew this stuff from experience. Well that, and the fact that I had majored in construction in college. "Warden's offices would have info on the location. Maybe a map." I noticed the curious looks I was getting, and I blushed, looking down at my lap.

"Rain's right. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a gold mine," Rick pointed out, drawing the attention away from me.

Maggie shook her head at Rick. "We're dangerously low on ammo. We'd run out before we make a dent." She was right, we barely had any bullets left, winter had taken almost all of our ammo with it.

Rick nodded at her, and I sighed, knowing where he was going with this. "That's why we have to go in there hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance," Rick said. He turned and stormed off, Lori following close behind him. I shook my head and turned back to my tent.

"Well on that note. I'm going to bed. Night y'all." I received a small chorus of goodnight's as I walked back to my tent. Turning once I had entered, I saw that everyone else had retreated to their tent as well. Zipping up the tent, I pulled my shirt and pants off, it was far too hot for me to still be wearing long sleeves and pants anymore. Figuring that Daryl would ignore my advice and stay out there, I climbed onto the cot we'd come to share and turned onto my back staring at the fabric ceiling of the tent. I'd have to wear my warmer weather clothes tomorrow, who knew how hot it was in the prison now? I started to doze off, perfectly comfortable in my underwear with the sheets wrapped around me.

I shot up, startled from my sleep, feeling the cot shift. Fearing that a walker had made its way into my tent, I threw my hand out and punched it, feeling like I'd hit its face. Damn it, if I had to run out there in my underwear, well that would be quite the show. I was about to punch again when a hand grabbed mine. "Damn it girl! Fuck that hurt. What's wrong with you?!" Daryl yelled at me.

Oh my God, it wasn't a walker. It was Daryl. "Damn it Daryl, I thought you were a God damn walker! I could've killed you!" I hissed at him. I moved over, allowing him to slip onto the cot, trying to calm my heart rate. My eyes finally adjusted to the dark and I saw that he was staring at me. Well not me, my... chest. What? I looked down and remembered that I was in my underwear. I let out a small squeak and tried to jump over him. "I uh- I forgot that I. I thought that you would be on watch all night," I muttered, glad that it was dark so he couldn't see my burning face. I went to jump over him and grab some clothes when he grabbed my arm.

"Don't bother. It's fine," he told me. I knew that he was slightly uncomfortable but I settled into bed anyways. I laid down and felt him snake an arm under my head, pulling me into him, like he had done all winter. Then, it had just been too cold not to cuddle. Now he was doing it because he wanted to. I smiled to myself, laying my head down on his chest. He laid the blankets over me and I couldn't help but think that he was making an effort. It warmed my heart to see him trying. This was all I wanted, to know that he cared. I fell asleep quickly, not caring in the slightest that I'd been woken up.

"Mmmm, 5 more minutes," I groaned as I felt someone trying to shake me awake. "What? Leave me alone, go away," I muttered, with my face buried in the pillows. I could feel the cot vibrate from Daryl's laughter and I pulled my head up to see what was so funny.

"I would if I could get my leg outta there." He pointed down and I saw that my legs were wrapped around his, holding them in place. I laughed too and untangled my legs from his. I sat up, running my fingers through my long blonde hair. God it was longer than I remembered. It felt like now it came down to mid back. I was going to have to cut it soon. My body shook with a shiver and I looked down to see why I was so cold. I was met with my half naked body and I blushed, I had forgotten about last night. I went to stand up to retrieve my clothes when I remembered what exactly I was wearing. Quickly sitting back down, Daryl looked over to me and cocked his eyebrow. "The hell is wrong with you?" He asked me.

I jumped at his voice and I had to shake my head to clear my thoughts. I heard him mutter a few curses while he was tinkering with his crossbow. "Uh, do you think you can hand me my clothes?" I asked him.

He scoffed at me and motioned to his crossbow, "I'm a little busy here girl." I groaned and stood up, carefully making sure that he wouldn't be able to see my backside. When I'd left home, I'd just grabbed underwear out of the drawer. I hadn't really checked if they were appropriate or not. And these most certainly were not. I jumped over his stuff and grabbed my clothes, jumping back into the center of the tent and turning to him. To my utter horror, I realized that he had seen them. I blushed and looked down, pulling on my shorts. "Planning on someone seein ya like that?"

I blushed and pulled my tank top over my head. "No, I just didn't have anything clean." I huffed at him and he laughed in response.

"C'mon, Rick probably wants to get goin as son as possible." I nodded and grabbed my bow, walking out of the tent with Daryl trailing behind me. I walked up to Rick and saw who he had gathered so far. Himself, T-Dog, Maggie, and Glenn. He patted me on the shoulder and said a quick good morning.

"Alright, Daryl, Rain? Would you two help clear things out as well?" Rick asked us. We both nodded and he said a thanks. "OK, now I need to close that gate up there, keep more walkers from piling in. We stay in a tight circle, someone watching from every direction. Once we close that gate and clear that part of the compound, we move into that cell block. Cell Block C I believe it is. We clear it out and bam. We have our new home. Bars and locks everywhere, we'll be safe. Everyone got it?" We all nodded and moved up to the fence where we got into formation.

Rick was at the front, wielding a machete. Glenn was on his side with a sharpened metal pipe. Maggie was next to him with a hatchet. I was next to her with my bow and arrows shouldered, my grandfathers knife in hand. Daryl was next to me, his crossbow also shouldered, holding his hunting knife at his side. T-Dog was next to him, closing the circle of us holding a metal pipe similar to the one Glenn had.

"Ready?" Rick asked. We all nodded and he opened the gate. As we all quickly made our way in, I nodded to Lori to latch the gate behind us. Daryl jumped out of the circle to take down a walker that was headed his way. When he didn't immediately get back in formation Rick hissed at him. "Daryl." Hearing our leader, he came back and regained his place between T-Dog and myself.

"Come on," Rick said, trying to attract the walkers that still hadn't noticed us.

"Hey! Come on!" Maggie started to yell, Glenn chorusing after her.

"Over here! Come on! Hey, come on!" T started yelling as well. A walker came charging at me and I easily drove my knife through its skull. As we made our way up, our formation became loser and loser, with us having to move around to take out the walkers now. I had separated from the group and taken out a few walkers that were prisoners before this.

"Back there Daryl!" I heard Rick shout. I turned around and saw that there were walkers pouring into the yard now. Oh God, they were in some sort of riot gear. Daryl moved to one and pulled off his crossbow, shooting an arrow. It merely bounced off of the glass. The only good thing was that these walkers wouldn't be able to bite or scratch us. I turned to the group and saw that Maggie drover her hatchet through a walkers skull. She turned to Glenn, smiling ecstatically.

"Seen that?" She asked him. He yelled for her to pay attention and she went after one of the riot gear walkers. I sighed and ran after one myself. It quickly latched onto my shoulders and I yelped. Pulling my arm up, I took the knife and jammed the blade through the walkers chin and into its head. Thank God it was a long blade or else that never would have worked.

I looked around and realized that if we didn't shut this gate soon, we would be overrun. "Rick, get the gate!" I shouted. He ran over to the gate and pulled it shut, closing off the stream of walkers. I ran to the few prisoner walkers that were left and took down one after the other. I jumped over the body of a fallen riot walker and stabbed the final prisoner. I looked around and smiled, the courtyard was ours now. Now we just had the cell block to go through.

Daryl went to move to the cell block when Rick stuck out his arm. "Stop." He looked around, making sure that everything was secure and that we would all go in together. "Well, it looks secure. Nothing will lead to that courtyard over there." Rick pointed to the courtyard that we had just closed off.

"And that's a civilian." Daryl pointed to a walker in front of him. He was right, it was a woman in a dress. Well, let's hope that she was just here for visiting day. "So the interior could be over run by walkers from outside the prison," Daryl added. He was right, we could not only have to deal with the prisoners but also civilians inside.

Glenn spoke up. "Well, if there's walls down, then what are we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." He was right, we could rewire fences and I had been a construction major but still. With what little technology and manpower we had, there was no way that we could replace walls here.

Rick sighed and shook his head. "We can't risk a blind spot. We have to push in."

We all nodded and stood at the door to the cell block. Rick slowly pushed it open, he and Daryl stepping through first. I followed, and noticed that there was no walker growling like I'd expected. None were loitering around either. Maybe the prison had cleared the cell blocks and cordoned them off. Fantastic, that made it easier for us. We were standing in what looked to be a sitting area, with tables and benches bolted to the floors. Rick nudged my shoulder as we walked in, and pointed up to a watch tower, where I could see blood on the window. He jingled his hands like he was holding keys, and I nodded. He was looking for keys to the prison doors. I watched as Rick went up the stairs, and I readied an arrow. After a few beats, Rick stepped out of the room and held out a pair of keys, tossing an identical set down to Daryl, who easily caught them.

Rick walked over to the gate and slowly twisted the key, opening the gate. I cringed at the noise of the gate opening. It was loud and high pitched. Walking into the cell area, I saw that there were two floors, both holding cells. Rick nodded for Daryl and I to check the upstairs, while the other 3 checked the downstairs. In most of the cells, there were no walkers, or they were actually dead. We had gotten about halfway through when a walker jumped out at us, but the bars refrained it from getting out. Grimacing, I took out my knife and jammed it into the walkers skull. Rick and Daryl did the same with the walkers in the next cells. I nodded to the men and we walked back downstairs, seeing that Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog hadn't found anything.

I laughed and called out. "Welcome home y'all. Nice and cozy," I said, nudging up on Daryl. He smirked and shoved me off.

Rick smiled at me and walked in front of me. "Rain, can you bring in the rest of the group? We'll clear out the 3 bodies upstairs." I smiled and nodded, dropping my weapons, except my knife, and ran out to the yard. I made it out and called out to the group, who were staring at the gate. "C'mon guys!" They all ran up and immediately the questions started flying. Is everyone else OK? Is it safe? Was anyone hurt? Were there walkers? Blah blah blah.

"Hey, everyone's fine! I just came to get y'all. Wanna see our new home?" Everyone nodded and I led the rest of our group back to the cell block and into the gate. Holding my arms out I asked, "what do you think?"

"Home, sweet, home. For the time being," Carol said. I smiled at her mouthing 'I told you so' again at her. She rolled her eyes and laughed at my childish antics.

Lori looked concerned, checking every corner of the cell block, even though we already had. "It's secure?" She asked.

Rick looked at her and nodded. "This cell block is."

"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asked.

Rick shrugged his shoulders and looked at the older man. "In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary." Oh fantastic, another day of me busting my ass in a place I didn't really enjoy. No matter how much I liked the security of this place, I would always hold a special hatred in my heart for prisons.

Beth looked slightly disgusted and I laughed at her. "We'll sleep in the cells?" She asked. She had a good point there, I wasn't sure how much I liked the idea of sleeping in a cell.

"I found keys on some guards. Daryl has a set too," Rick said and Daryl nodded.

After a beat Daryl spoke up. "I ain't sleeping in no cage. I'll take the perch," he said as he bounded up the stairs to the second level perch. Looking around I nodded at his idea.

"Ya know, I think I'll join you," I said. I bounded up the stairs and plopped my stuff down next to his. He looked at me and gave a small smirk. I scoffed at him knowing that he was about to tease me.

"Afraid of a little cell?" He asked. I punched his shoulder and he laughed, knowing that I hadn't meant to do any real damage. "Hey, wanna go in the spare cells they ain't usin? Grab 2 cots, put em together." I nodded at him and walked over into the cells closest to the edge of the perch. I walked into the first of the cells and checked the mattress. I looked the mattress over and didn't see anything that we couldn't risk sleeping on. Pulling it off of the bunk, I dragged it out of the cell and into the hall. I repeated the same thing with the top bunk and I pushed the two over to the perch. Laying them straight together, I walked over to our stuff and pulled the blankets up bringing them to the cots. I laid down the blankets and spread them out. I had straightened out the blankets when I looked down and saw that Rick was about to leave, presumably to continue patrolling.

I sighed and turned around to face Daryl. "He's still patrolling, he's gonna kill himself."

He looked at me and pulled me away from the railing. I spun and tripped over the cots that he was sitting on. I let out a small squeak as I fell, and I could hear his laughter. I looked at him and went to slap him, when he caught my hand. "Hey, just let him. He'll get better once the kid's here. He'll sleep when he needs it. Don't worry about him right now," he told me. I groaned and flopped down onto my back. He followed suit and fell besides me. I smiled at him and rolled towards him, while he looked over at me. Rolling onto his side as well, he brought a hand to my arm and let it rest there. I smiled at him and gave him a small kiss on the lips. He wrapped one arm around me and pulled me as tight as he could into me. The kiss didn't last long, but it was amazing. I wanted to roll my eyes at the thought but fireworks were going off all throughout my body. A loud clang downstairs made us jump apart and sit up to see what had made the commotion. I looked down and saw that Rick had thrown a few suits of riot gear.

I saw that he turned and started calling to everyone. "Naturally. Thanks a lot Rick," I rolled my eyes and stood up. I leaned down and grabbed my bow, shouldering it. Daryl walked in front of me and tugged on my arm. We walked downstairs and over to the group who were looking over whatever it was that Rick had found.

Rick held up a few weapons and gave them a once over. "Not bad. Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers. Not sure how they'd work on walkers, but we'll take it." Hmm, probably not weapons for a walker, but maybe a person.

Daryl held up a helmet and I gagged as I saw all of the walker goo that was falling out of it. I groaned and looked away from the table. "I ain't wearing this shit," Daryl said, tossing it back onto the table. Yeah I second that.

"We could boil 'em," T-Dog suggested. No way.

I scoffed and looked over at him. "I think I'll risk getting bit."

"Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest," Daryl said, referring to T-Dog's suggestion of boiling them. He was right, besides what if we accidentally get some of it in our eyes or mouth?

Rick looked and shook his head. I could tell that he was disappointed that the riot gear hadn't worked, but he quickly put himself back together. "No. Besides, we made it this far without 'em, right?" He was right, besides they would only make us slower. If we needed to make a quick getaway, there was no way that we would be able to get out fast enough.

"So? Let's get the hell outta here. Which way boss?" I asked Rick. He nodded for the small group of us to leave. Myself, Daryl, Rick, Maggie, Glenn, T-Dog, and Hershel all went out of C and headed through the dark halls to what I assumed was Cell Block A.

Rick turned to us clearly wanting to know if we were all ready. Everyone nodded and Rick nodded back. "Let's go," he told us before opening the doors. Everyone was shining around their flashlights and I couldn't see a damn thing. But I suppose that was a good thing. We walked in and I let out a breath not hearing any of the growling that would signify a walker was near. We made it into a narrow passageway and I slipped into step behind Daryl who was behind Rick. I nearly screamed when I felt a sharp poke behind my shin, but I bit onto my tongue and realized that it had just been the point of Glenn's metal bar.

I turned and glared at him. "Ouch, damn it Glenn."

The Asian looked up and me and gave me a guilty look. "Sorry," he whispered. I turned back and followed closely behind Daryl. I could hear Glenn every time that we turned a corner drawing an arrow to mark where we had come from. It was a good idea, with no lights in these halls, it was pitch black and almost impossible to find your way around. We went to turn another corner and suddenly I slammed into Daryl, who was as stiff as a board. A moment later I felt Glenn smack into me, and I was sure that I was just as stiff as Daryl. Looking ahead, I saw that there was a huge pile of walkers down the hallway, blocking the way, and our lights had just caught their attention.

"Go back. Go back! Move!" Rick was shouting at us. No point in being quiet now. Turning around and sprinting as fast as I could behind Glenn. I shouted and ran behind him, making sure that we were following the arrows as Glenn had drawn them. Turning another corner I slammed into Glenn, who had stopped ahead of me. What the hell people?! Go!

"Walkers!" T-Dog shouted. Oh God, we were cut off. I looked around and saw that there was no way out except for straight ahead. Gritting my teeth, I followed back to the first hoard, hoping that we could make it to the fork in the hall before the first hoard reached us.

I turned around and heard Glenn call out. "This way." I tried to find him but he was out of my sight, so was Maggie. Turning around and dashing down an unknown corridor taking a few twists and turns, we seemed to have lost the walkers. I couldn't hear any growling behind us, so I prayed that they had left down a different hall, and were being taken to a different part of the prison. I let out a few deep breaths before Daryl pulled me into him, looking me over.

I pushed him slightly off, "Daryl, nothing was even near me. I'm fine, are you?" I asked. He nodded and I wrapped my hand around his arm, even though it barely fit.

I heard Hershel's voice behind me, and I gave a small smile, glad that the old man was OK. "Where's Glenn and Maggie?" I turned, seeing that they weren't with us. They must have found somewhere to hide out in.

"We have to go back. We need to find them," I said.

"But which way?" T asked me.

"Maggie? Glenn?" Rick called quietly. We started to walk ahead and I grimaced seeing all of the dead bodies littering the floor. I was careful stepping over all of the bodies, keeping away from their torso's. Just in case. Stepping over another body I heard a small call down the corridor.

It was Glenn and Maggie's voices. "Rick? Dad? Daddy?" I smiled at them, glad that they had somehow managed to avoid the walkers. They must have ducked out when we had all been distracted by the walkers.

Hershel began to step forward, calling his oldest daughters name. "Mag? Mag?" I began to move to the side, allowing Hershel to pass me so that he could get to his daughter, when I heard a strangled cry come from behind. Whipping around, I saw that there was a walker, who wasn't apparently dead that had it's jaws locked around Hershel's shin. I felt my heart drop, and I was pushed out of the way as Rick ran past me. He pulled out his gun to shoot the walker who had now lost a hold of Hershel's leg.

"No! No!" Maggie screeched as she went to run to her dying father.

I jumped in front of her and managed to hold her back. "Maggie don't!" I held her back from her father as Rick shot the walker and picked Hershel up by his arms.

"Daryl!" He yelled to the archer, who ran over and grabbed Hershel's leg to drag him out of the hallway. We started to run back to the cell block with Hershel's pain filled cries echoing off the walls.

"Oh, God, help me! Oh, God!" He cried, obviously in extreme pain.

I lead the group back to the cell block and I nearly cried when I saw that once more the walker hoard was blocking our path. Daryl pulled me to a halt and forced me to turn back. As we turned, I heard Rick shouting to everyone else. "Go! Go! Back."

Running the other way, we were once more cut off by the other hoard of walkers. No, we had nowhere to run now. And we would get overpowered by them within seconds. With my heart pounding out of my chest, I heard T-Dog call out. "We're blocked!"

"We have to go back!" Maggie shouted. Turning, I saw a door that led to God knows where. I didn't know what else to do, so I shoved Rick's shoulder and pointed at the door. We turned and ran into the room, with Rick screaming at us, still holding onto Hershel's weak body. The man was fading fast. "Go! Go! Get in!" He yelled to us as we all piled in. I turned away from the door and saw that Rick had put Hershel's body on what looked like a metal table. "Shut the door!" He yelled as T-Dog ran back and secured the door. Rick stared at us and yelled to Maggie and Glenn. "Hold him down." I kept my back to them, positioned, staring at the door just in case. T-Dog was standing next to me, doing the same. Although we both we watching what was happening on the table behind us. "All right. Only one way to keep you alive," Rick said to Hershel, grabbing an axe on the floor and tying his belt around the older mans leg, above where he had been bitten. Oh God, he was gonna cut the limb off. I grimaced as I saw him bring the axe down. Once. Twice. The sound of separating the limb from his body was sickening. I was glad I hadn't eaten today, or else I might've hurled. I turned back to the table and saw that the leg had finally been separated and Hershel had passed out. Probably from blood loss and pain.

I walked over to the table and heard Maggie crying. "Oh. He's bleeding out." She was right, we were going to have to move him soon and get him where we could do something more than just chop off the limb.

"Rick, we have to get him back-" I was cut off by Daryl, who swung his crossbow up and yelled to us.

"Duck," he told us, pointing his crossbow right by us. We all moved to the ground and I looked at what he was pointing his crossbow at. I nearly screamed as I saw that it was 5 prisoners, and these men were actually alive. They were all watching with wide eyes, behind a counter. Good God, had they been hiding in here this whole time?

"Holy shit," one of them muttered. Yeah buddy, the feeling's mutual.

A/N PLEASE READ THIS ONE: Hi everyone! So I hope you liked this chapter, and I just wanted to say that Rain's whole prison fear will be explained. I'm not sure when, but it will be. Down to business, like I had said before, Rain is very much based off of myself and so is her college beginnings. Although she is slightly older than I am, I am in college and building construction is my major. It's a difficult major and most of my time in school is spent doing schoolwork or with friends. So updates will be coming much slower, as I'm making the 4 hour drive tomorrow to get back to school. I will try to update as much as I possibly can, but I'm not promising anything. I may not be able to update until my spring break which is the second week of March. Just know that no matter how long my updates take for a while to come, until school ends, I am NOT giving up on this story. I love it too much, and I'm excited that it's gotten so much more attention then I would have ever thought. Anyways, as always thank you for the follows and favorites from **Addictedtoreading452**, **Pandora0814**, **Sin and Virtue**, **VampireWolfGirl24**, **Kisses N' Cyanide**, and **anji1504**! I love you all! So please review! Tell me if you guys want to see anything! It really makes me happy! Hope to talk to y'all soon! -A


	24. The Prisoners

I looked up as I heard the man and stared straight at the group of men. It looked like these men had once been prisoners, and not just by the prisoner jumpsuits they were wearing. These men looked like bad news. Except for the white man with a handlebar mustache. He just looked like he was trying to get by. There was a skinny black kid, that didn't look to be much older than me. A huge black man that looked actually pretty afraid of us, I didn't really know what to think of him. There was a slightly smaller black man that looked like he could rip your head off, and wouldn't feel a tiny but of remorse. He was the only one that scared me. The last of them only creeped me out. It was a Hispanic man that looked to be in his late 20's, and he looked like no good news. He was holding a gun, with long pulled back black hair. His eyes moved over all of us and stopped on my own body for far too long.

Growling, I stood up and pointed my bow at the man, who merely smirked at me. I went to make a nasty remark to the man but Daryl beat me to it. "Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell are you?" The Hispanic man shot back almost instantly. I gave a dark glare to the greasy haired man. He was looking the group over and his beady eyes stopped when they hit Hershel.

I could hear Maggie's sobs turn into breaths of struggle, so I finally looked over to see what was happening. Hershel was no longer awake, he had obviously passed out. "He's bleeding out," she cried. She was right, we didn't have the tools with us to do the procedure if need be. And no one knew if this would even save his life.

"Rick. We gotta go back. He might not be alive much longer if we don't get him proper care," I told our leader. He looked over at me and nodded, quickly shooting his eyes to the prisoners. I nodded my head, knowing that he wanted me to keep a close eye on them. I gave him a small nod and turned back to the 5 men with a taunt bow.

I could hear Rick besides me giving instructions but I kept my stare firmly on the men behind the counter. The Hispanic man's eyes had once more met my own body and I had to take every ounce of strength I had, not to shoot him right then and there. "Come around here. Put pressure on the knee. Hard, hard! Push, push." They were clearly trying to stem the bleeding.

I noticed that Daryl had opened his mouth and was about to speak to the men. "Why don't you come on out of there? Slow and steady," he told them. To my surprise, they actually listened to him and began to make their way out of the hiding spot. Knowing that these men could have some type of hidden weapons on them, I prepared myself to shoot any of them at any given second. As the group walked out, the Hispanic man took the lead and pointed to Hershel. I narrowed my eyes, as I spotted a small pistol in his hands. I nudged Daryl, and motioned to it, to which he nodded.

Coming to stand in front of us, it seemed like the men had finally gotten their voices back. "What happened to him?" The Hispanic man asked, pointing his gun to Hershel. He appeared to have decided to no longer hide it, rather flaunt it. Maybe to scare us, but hey, it was him against our entire group. The odds were not in his favor.

"He got bit," Daryl said. Oh God Daryl, what a marvelous way of putting things you have.

That put the men on edge, as they all stepped back. Well that is, except for the Hispanic man, who raised his gun and pointed it at Hershel. I stepped forward, with my arrow aimed directly between his eyes. Daryl had done the same. "Bit?" He asked, motioning his gun, to a very weak Hershel. I gave a small nod, knowing Daryl wouldn't say it again. I saw the fear seep into the white man's eyes. Well, at least one of them didn't seem like much of a threat.

Rick finally checked back into reality and stepped between Daryl and I and the prisoners. He pushed down everyone's weapons and gave me a sharp look to which I merely rolled my eyes. They started it. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy now. Nobody needs to get hurt." I nodded and turned back to see how Hershel was doing. Rick walked back over to the table he was laying on and handed a cloth to Maggie who was obviously still in shock. "I need you to hold this," he said as he handed her the cloth.

She nodded and stood over what remained of her fathers leg. "OK," she just barely squeaked out placing the cloth over the stump of Hershel's leg. I grimaced as I saw the red flesh get pulled and pushed apart at the pressure. There was a reason I wasn't a nursing major. It wasn't like I was terrified of blood and guts, but it definitely wasn't something I wanted to gawk at all day.

I looked at Rick who was shaking his head, he obviously could see that Hershel wasn't going to make it much longer. I sighed and nodded at the inevitable. Without the proper medical supplies, there was no way that the older man was going to make it. Even if we got him back to our part of the prison, we only had the supplies to keep him alive for so long. We needed the infirmary which I only had an inkling of its location. I hated to think what would happen if we couldn't find it. Rick once more placed his hand on top of Maggie's and I saw the blood rush out of the wound on Hershel's leg. "As hard as you can," he told her in the authoritative tone I'd grown so used to hearing from him. Like the rest of us, Rick had grown a thick skin over the long winter.

She nodded at him, and to her credit, her hands had stopped shaking. She looked at him briefly and muttered a small "yes." I wanted to hug her, but I knew that she wasn't our priority right now. It was Hershel, and the group of prisoners who had been silently watching on. I knew though, the silence wouldn't last much longer with the initial shock having worn off from everyone.

The greasy looking Spanish prisoner was the first to move, however Daryl was faster, aiming his bolt between the mans eyes. Smarter than I thought he would be, he stopped moving and smirked at us. "You have medical supplies?" Rick asked them, surprising me. I would have thought that one of the prisoners would have been the first to initiate communication between our two groups.

The same prisoner who was smirking at us turned his mean look to Rick. "Wow," he laughed. I snarled and moved my bow to his heart, knowing that it would be a fatal shot if I got a little trigger happy. The man looked down my arrow and let his eyes travel up my body, this time coming to rest on my eyes. "Easy there, sweetheart. If ya wanna play a little rough, my cell ain't too far of a walk," he told me, giving me a quick wink.

I felt Daryl stiffen, however, I grabbed his arm before he could shoot the man. I shook my head at him and turned back to the man. "Go fuck yourself. Or actually, I wouldn't mind a comedy show," I told him, smirking and shooting my gaze down to his crotch. I heard the snorts of Glenn and T-Dog who were both standing off to the side and I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of myself.

The Spanish man growled at me and went to take a step forward but decided better of it, and stayed put. "Aye darling, what I'd do to you ain't nothin you'd be laughing at. Screaming maybe," he told me with a nasty grin crossing his features. Clearly feeling a little more brave, the Spanish man took a step out from behind the fenced in area and went out to join us. As usual though, Daryl was prepared to keep them at bay.

"Where do you think you're going?" He hissed at the man. The greasy haired man scoffed and looked over the rest of the group, his eyes knitting together. In confusion or anger, I couldn't tell.

The man glared once more at Daryl and let out a humorless laugh. "Who the hell are you people, anyway? Don't look like no rescue team," he snarled at us. A rescue team? Dude you need to get out more, no one's left, and anyone that is left doesn't give two shits about some prisoners that somehow have survived so long. I wonder how they've survived this long? Must be a lot of food. And besides, the prison seemed to fall pretty early, so how did they manage to keep themselves away from the carnage that must have ensued here? There was something that didn't sit well with me about these men, and it wasn't just because they were prisoners.

Daryl snarled at the men and gave them a funny look. Clearly he was thinking the same thing that I was. That there was nothing left. "If a rescue team is what you're waiting for, don't," he snapped at them. It wasn't hard to see the looks of disappointment that crossed over their faces.

I looked back at the table Hershel was resting on and I could tell that Rick was getting restless. He was right in that aspect. We needed to get Hershel to a place where we could just let him rest and not have to worry about something happening where there was nothing we could do about it. I saw that Rick was shouldering his supplies and he turned to the rest of the group. "Come on, we gotta go! Now! Come on! I need a hand here," Rick pulled at T-Dog's arm, bringing him to the door. I stood back with T ready to defend the rest of our group from the walkers. I looked back and saw that everyone else was helping Hershel, well except for Daryl, who still had his crossbow locked onto the prisoners. Rick looked to T and I, silently asking if we were ready for him to open the door. We both nodded and Rick left his hand on the board, ready to push it out and let the doors open.

Rick looked to us one more time and we both nodded. "One, two, three, go!" Rick said before pulling out the board and hanging onto the doors, not ready to open them yet.

"Holy Jesus!" I heard the white prisoner with the handlebar mustache yell. Oh yeah, they were in for quite the surprise when they saw what was about to happen.

T-Dog looked back to see what was happening and Rick yelled out to catch his attention and bring it back to the door. "T, the door," Rick called to him. T-Dog turned back to the door and nodded.

The Spanish man looked over at us and raised the gun he had in his hand. Daryl yelled at him and raised his crossbow to his eyes, making the prisoner reluctantly drop his gun to his side. Although it seemed that he wasn't catching on to what we were preparing to do. "Are you crazy? Don't open that!" Oh come on dude. Do you think we're going to open that door without any plan? Just open the door and let the walkers come in here and kill us. Yea, we wouldn't have made it that long if we had done shit like that. Common sense asshole.

"We got this," Rick growled at the man without turning his gaze away from the doors. With one last deep breath, he raised his hand to the door and let one swing open. I jumped but made myself relax as I let an arrow go through the skull of the first walker to make its way into the room. For a few moments, we continued to swing at the walkers that were making their way into the room, and as the last of them fell, I turned to look at the prisoners. I smirked at the Spanish man who was giving me an incredulous look. Rick's voice calling out to us snapped me out of my reverie though.

"Rain." He called to me. I snapped out of it and followed the group out of the room and back into the hallway that was now clear of walkers. "Daryl. Daryl! Let's go," I heard Rick call. I turned back to see Daryl run out of the room and quickly pull up behind me. I jumped as his hand caught my back and pushed me to run after the group. Easily catching up, we came to a short stop, and stared ahead of us, down the two hallways wondering which way it was that we should go.

I glanced quickly around the halls and just down the left corridor I saw the shadow of kicked up dust. We had walked that way before. Just as I was about to make the call, Rick made the same one. "This way. This way, this way," our leader told us. He ran ahead of us and made it about halfway down the hall before coming to a short stop. I heard the deep growl of walkers and I let out a deep breath. We had to make it back and these things were blocking off our path. "No, no, no. Back, back! Daryl. Come on! Go, go, go." Everyone was shouting to go one way, and with myself now in the lead with my flashlight shining, I made the call to turn right at the next fork in the hallways. I sighed a deep breath when Rick caught my shoulder. "Stop, stop. Follow the flashlight. Come on, let's go," he told me, shining his flashlight ahead of me. I ran ahead of the group and finally came across the familiar arrows that Glenn had been drawing earlier. Oh thank God, we were almost back.

I smiled and ran as fast as my body could carry me. "Go, go. Go, go, go," I shouted. Sprinting ahead, I was nearly back at the cell block when Rick called out from behind me.

"Rain slow down a bit!" At that, I came to a stop and waited for the rest of the group to catch up. "Easy, easy," Rick was saying as the group tried to keep the table that Hershel was laying on steady. I could see the blood coating the table, and I felt my hope for him drop. He needed a blood transfusion, or to just be damn lucky.

Maggie seemed to voice my fears for Hershel, although her voice was laced with pain at the thought of losing her father. I couldn't blame her. While I might not feel anything if I lost my father, hers was a wonderful man, and even I would be devastated if we lost Hershel. He meant too much to the entire group. "He's losing too much blood," Maggie squeaked out as the group caught up to me.

Running ahead once more, Rick and I made it to the door where Carl was standing guard. I paicked and motioned for Carl to open the door, but my motion went unnoticed. "Open the door!" Rick shouted to his son as the rest of the group rounded the corner. I saw Carl's eyes go wide and he went over to the gate to open it up for us.

Just as he was finishing on the lock, he turned back and shouted to the group members who had stayed behind, "it's Hershel!" Not even a minute later, I saw the rest of the group running out of their cells.

"Carl!" Rick shouted for his son to finish opening the door.

Just as the latch finally opened, I helped Rick push the door back and heard him yell to the group. "Come on," he told them. Watching on, I saw them wheel Hershel into the cell block and I pushed the door closed behind Daryl who stood by the door with me. Clearly we had the same thought. We'd be getting a visit from the prisoners pretty soon. There were enough people ready to help Hershel, someone needed to be out here, ready to defend the group from our new threat.

I could hear the group running up to the injured man. "Oh, my God," Lori breathed out running to see the man. Turning back, I could see the fear in her eyes. I didn't blame her. Hershel needed to be there when she had the baby, he was to assist with the birth. After all, he was the only one who had any experience delivering any type of infant.

I saw Beth run up last to the table, and the tears seemed to form in her eyes almost immediately. "Daddy!" She screamed running up to the side of the table and leaning over her dying father. Maggie was smart though, pulling Beth away and into herself.

Rick pushed the table ahead and into one of the cells. "Go, go, go, go, go. In there," he ordered the table into one of the unused cells. I sighed and shook my head. Praying to whatever spirit it was that had kept me alive this long, I prayed that I would keep Hershel alive as well. Looking over to Daryl, I saw the hope fading from his eyes as well.

I sighed and looked over at Daryl. "Do you think he's gonna make it?" I asked him. Daryl stayed silent and I knew his answer. No. I didn't blame him. After all, Hershel had been bitten, had his leg chopped off, lost a lot of blood, and we didn't have the proper medical care to take care of the wound. Although if Merle had made it after sawing off his own hand, Hershel would be able to make it with losing a leg. The only question is, did we get to the leg before the infection had spread through the rest of his body? God I hoped so.

Like clockwork, the five prisoners walked around the corner and came to a stop in front of the bars. "That's far enough," Daryl snarled at the men. Like I'd anticipated, the Spanish prisoner didn't take being told no very well.

He pointed his gun back through our cell and motioned to one of the empty cells halfway down the line. Well, at least no one was residing in there right now. "Cell block C. Cell 4- that's mine, gringo. Let me in." Yeah right, like we'd let you in where we have women and children, and now a severely injured older man. "Come on doll, put up a sheet and we can roll around. See how fierce you are in the sheets?" He asked me, giving me a slimy look.

I flicked the man off, but it was Daryl who really got at him. "You say one more word to her and this arrow's goin up your ass." I smiled at Daryl's obvious protective state that came out when he was around me. I couldn't help but find it endearing. At the odd look of the Spanish man though, I let it slip off of my face. Now was not the time to be grinning like an idiot.

"Oh didn't know the piece of ass was yours. As sweet in the sheets as she looks?" He asked Daryl, knowing that he was digging at Daryl's nerves. Alright, now he's in for it.

Getting pushed to the limits myself, I raised my bow and snapped at the man. "Hey fuck off. You and your friends."

He laughed and looked me in the eye. "Now we're on the same page darling. That's what I've been offering this entire time. Before I could step in, Rick came up and pushed me to the side. Well in reality what would I have done? That guy probably has at least 60 pounds of muscle on me.

"Alright, that's enough. All of you. Today's your lucky days, fellas. You've been pardoned by the State of Georgia. You're free to go." The men all looked around, but as I'd expected, they didn't like that answer. They looked back into the cell block with curiosity clear across their face. I stepped in between Rick and Daryl doing my best to block off what was happening in the cell.

The Spanish man looked over at us with a curious look. I couldn't help but notice that the grip he had on his pistol tightened unconsciously. "What you got going on in there?" He asked. What business of it is yours?

Unsurprisingly, Rick spoke my thoughts. "It ain't none of your concern."

The man snapped and stepped as close to the bars as he could. "Don't be telling me what's my concern," he growled while pulling his gun up. Immediately, myself, Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog who had come up behind us raised our weapons as well. We'd all four of us die before we let these men around the people we love, our family.

To my surprise, the taller black man put his hand on the Spanish man's arm, pushing the gun back down to his side. "Chill, man. Dude's leg is messed up. Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?" Hmm… I was impressed. I thought he might have been a problem, but it seemed like he was one of the few that wanted to avoid a conflict. Perhaps we could manage to trust him. But not while the ring leader was around. He would have to go. How, though, was the issue.

The white man spoke up next and I was unsurprised that he agreed with the huge prisoner. "The man's got a point." Good, you all have heard each other. Now leave us in peace and try your luck on the road just like the rest of us. Even though these men had been in prison, they had been a lot better off than all of us had been over these past few months. As I finally got a good chance to see the rest of the men in the light, I saw something familiar about the white man. It was like I had known him a while back. Staring for a while, the recognition finally hit me, and it was not a feeling that I liked. I tensed up, realizing where I had known him from, and the movement had not gone unnoticed by Daryl. He gave me a questioning look and I merely shrugged my shoulders. However by the look I received, I knew that he wasn't going to drop it that easily.

Luckily, before Daryl could actually question me, the other black man stepped in. "Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady." Ouch, hate to tell you buddy, but she most likely ain't around anymore.

I heard a scoff come from the corner and it was naturally the Spanish prisoner. Would he ever shut the hell up and just let us get shit taken care of? "A group of civilians breaking in to a prison you got no business being in- got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go." You're sure as hell right be we weren't gonna tell him that. I glared at him, but saw the long look from the white prisoner. What was his name? Andy? Aaron? Alex? Axel? Axel! That was it. At the same time that I'd remembered his name, the recognition apparently struck him as well. His eyes went wide as he looked at me and I felt the fear sink into me. Freaking out, I jumped slightly behind Daryl and let my hair fall into my face.

The curious look once more crossed his face and I gave an awkward cough. I blushed deeply and mumbled a small, "there was a rat. Or I thought it was a rat. Sorry." I knew he didn't believe me, and I knew that I would hear about this later. Damn it.

Rick, as sarcastic as ever, stepped in. He pointed his gun toward the door and gave the Spanish man a dark look. "Why don't you go find out?" He asked him. The man matched Rick's dark gaze.

"Maybe we'll just be going now," Axel tried to smooth the situation over. I remembered that about him, he wasn't a bad man, he just made some bad choices. From what I remembered actually, Axel had been one of the nicest people I had ever known. Not that I had really known him for very long.

Of course, the Spanish man pushed Axel to the side and came as close to the bars as he possibly could. "Hey, we ain't leaving," he snapped at us. I raised my bow to him, giving a silent warning that he'd best back off before I put an arrow through his skull. That wouldn't bother me one bit.

Rick growled at the man. "You aren't coming in either."

Naturally this whole argument was getting worse and worse. "Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please." Yeah? Well that was before the dead got up and started chewing on the living.

"There ain't nothing for you here," Rick told him. He was right though, everything that these men had once known, was gone. Although, there wasn't much waiting for them outside either.

The man scoffed and nodded his head to the door. "Why don't you go back to your own sandbox? How many of you are in there?" He asked before straining his neck to see if he could catch a glimpse at the rest of the group. I resumed my space in front of the cell and glared at the man. We had the numbers, but he didn't need to know that the rest of the people we had were women and children. Well, besides Glenn, but he was currently busy taking care of Hershel.

"Too many for you to handle," Rick growled. Sort of true.

The smaller Spanish man spoke then for the first time, motioning to the cell that Hershel was now resting in. "You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?" Seriously dude? The only hospitals left are crawling with walkers. Just ask Rick.

Rick gave the men a funny look. "How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?"

The Spanish man once more resumed his placed as the "leader" of his group. "Going on like 10 months. A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it. Attica on speed, man. Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy. One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria. Told us sit tight, threw me this piece, said he'd be right back. Yeah, and that was 292 days ago," he told us admiring his gun.

Axel turned to him and interrupted. "94 according to my calcula-" he began to correct before the man cut him off. Typical Axel.

"Shut up! We were thinking that the army or the National Guard should be showing up any day now." Now wouldn't that be nice? But trapped in here for ten months and you're still expecting a rescue team? Way to have wishful thinking.

Rick gave the men a blank faced stare and broke the bad news to the men. "There is no army." In twenty three(ish) years, I had never seen hope deflate from someone's eyes so quickly. Not that I could blame them, they had no idea what was going on out there. This was all a shock for them to be hearing.

"What do you mean?" One of the black men asked.

I stared at them and decided to get it over with. "There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone. There's nothing left. It's survival of the fittest. There's literally nothing left anywhere, go try a phone somewhere in here, see if you can get it to work."

"For real?" He asked me.

I stared at him with an unforgiving gaze. "I'm serious."

They all sat in silence for a moment before the man walked up to the bars with a pleading glance. Sensing no ill will from him, I let my bow drop. "What about my moms? My kids? And my old lady? Yo, you got a cell phone or something that we can call our families?" They just don't get it, they need to see it before they understand just how bad this is.

This time, Rick stepped in, obviously annoyed that he was stuck in this discussion, rather than being in the cell, helping with the care of Hershel. "You just don't get it, do you? No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population has been wiped out. Probably more." He was right, there was probably only about a quarter of the population left at this point.

"Ain't no way," the Spanish man growled.

Rick stared at him and opened the gate. "See for yourself," he told them, motioning to the yard. I followed behind them with my bow out, ready to shoot if need be.

I could feel Daryl standing at my side and I glanced over to look at him. "What the hell was that about in there? Looked like ya seen a damn ghost." I stared at the ground, not ready to tell Daryl why I freaked out. Not ready to tell him the whole story of how I came to know Axel all those years ago.

I coughed slightly and shook my head as we stepped out the door. "It was nothing Daryl. One of the men looked like someone I knew, a bad person, but they weren't. I was mistaken. That's all."

I knew that Daryl didn't believe me but I was still surprised when he grabbed my arm. "We ain't done talkin about this. You may be able to fool them but you've always been a shit liar when it came to me." I gulped and nodded at him, and with that, he gently released my arm allowing me to step out into the yard. "Ya know, I think you'd look good in one of those jumpsuits," he told me, poking at my shoulder. I laughed and shoved him away from me. Gathering ourselves, we walked up to where the prisoners were.

One of the black men laughed as he caught what was probably his first ray of sunlight in months. "Damn, the sun feels good," he smiled as he let the sun shine on his face. Looking up though, he caught the horrors of what now roamed the Earth. "Good lord. They're all dead," he breathed, looking into the yard, where all of the walkers that we had taken down were laid.

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see these fences," the Spanish man said. He took a moment before looking around and whirling back around to us. "You never said- how the hell did you get in here in the first place?"

Rick pointed over to the fence, where the thick wire held the pieces of fence together. "Cut a hole in that fence over there by that guard tower," he told them.

The Spanish man gave an incredulous look before turning back to Rick. "That easy, huh?"

Rick nodded at him and shrugged his shoulders. "Where there's a will there's a way."

"Easy for you to say," he scoffed.

After a beat of silence, the smaller Spanish man stepped into the conversation. "So what is this, like a disease?" Well pretty much, not like any of us really know exactly what this thing is.

Rick, never one to hesitate, immediately stepped in. "Yeah, and we're all infected." Well shit, way to be blunt Rick.

The man gave an odd look and turned to Rick. "What do you mean infected? Like AIDS or something?" Sure, except once AIDS kills you, you're gone and you aren't ever coming back.

Daryl looked at the man and pointed his crossbow at his chest. I saw the fear immediately cross the man's face. "If I was to kill you, shoot an arrow in your chest, you'd come back as one of these things. It's gonna happen to all of us." The man relaxed, but the fear eventually slid across his face.

I heard the scoff come from their leaders mouth and I turned to glare at him. "Ain't no way this Robin Hood casts responsible for killing all these freaks. Must be 50 bodies out here. Where'd you come from?" I scoffed back at him.

Rick answered simply, "Atlanta."

The man nodded and looked over the fenced area before turning back to us. "Where are you headed?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "For now, nowhere."

The man nodded and for a moment I thought that they would surrender their claim on the cell block. "I guess you can take that area down there near the water. Should be comfortable." Or maybe not, figures he would be an asshole about it. Well too damn bad, the cell block was ours, they would have to find somewhere else to go.

Rick shook his head a motioned out to the field. "We're using that field for crops."

The man shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn't even cared what Rick had just told him. "We'll help you move your gear out," he told Rick. Did he not just hear us? This prison, the cell block, it was ours. We had fought hard for this place and we sure as hell weren't giving it up after all that had happened. And not with Lori being actually overdue for the baby.

Rick shook his head at their leader. "That won't be necessary. We took out these walkers. This prison is ours," he growled. This didn't look good to me, I could tell that a fight was about to break out.

"Slow down, cowboy. You snatched the locks off our doors," he tried to argue. Oh please, we set you free and killed the walkers that were trying to get at you. We helped you, assholes.

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "We'll give you new locks, if that's how you want it." Leave it to Rick to make matters even worse without even meaning to. It was evident that their leader was contemplating doing something stupid if he didn't get his way real soon. Well too bad, we were the ones with more guns.

He glared at Rick and seemed to give us the look that told us this was our last warning. "This is our prison. We were here first."

Rick scoffed and motioned back up to the prison. "Locked in a broom closet? We took it, set you free. It's ours. We spilled blood." It was true, we may have lost our closest thing we had to a doctor.

The Spanish man shook his head and pointed back up to C. "We're moving back into our cell block."

"You'll have to get your own," Rick snarled at him.

"It is mine. I've still got personal artifacts in there. That's about as mine as it gets." Oh gross, I didn't even want to imagine what he meant by "personal artifacts". Let's hope that no one wants to make that cell their home.

Axel, who always had been the peacekeeper, tried to step in and dissolve the tension. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Maybe let's try to make this work out so everybody wins."

"I don't see that happening," Rick said in an eerily calm tone.

For once, the prisoners leader agreed with Rick. "Neither do I," he said, still not having removed his glare from Rick. The two were locked in a deep battle for dominance. "I ain't going back in that cafeteria for one more minute."

"There are other cell blocks. You could leave. Try your luck out on the road," Rick gave the men a few options.

The smaller Spanish man seemed to suddenly grow a pair as he stepped up to defend his leader. "If these three pussies and a bitch can do all this, the least we can do is take out another cell block." Hey fuck you, I guarantee that I've got more balls then you'll ever have.

The slightly smaller black man scoffed and looked at his group. "With what?" Good question, it wasn't exactly like they were well stocked in the weapons department. Now that, we were. It was food that we were running low on.

The taller Spanish man wore a devious grin as he turned to Rick. "Atlanta here will spot us some real weapons. Won't you, boss?" He asked with a sickeningly sweet voice.

Rick seemed to think about it for a moment before deciding on striking a deal. "How stocked is that cafeteria? It must have plenty of food. Five guys lasting almost a year? It sure as hell don't look like anybody's been starving," he said looking over at the largest black man who had a decent gut on him. And here we are, having been starving.

Their leader was quick to jump in. "There's only a little left." Hmm... Why do I not believe that?

Rick nodded at him, without taking the bait. "We'll take half. In exchange, we'll help clear out a cell block." Not a bad deal, but I couldn't help wonder if the men would actually take it.

The smaller Spanish man jumped in and snapped at Rick. "Didn't you hear him? There's only a little left." Big words from a little man. He wasn't very tall, I was just a few inches shorter than him.

Rick gave the men a sick glance, with a tiny shrug. "Bet you got more food than you got choices. You pay, we'll play. We'll clear out a block for you, then you keep to it." It was a good option, but it was up to these men to take it.

The leader seemed to stop and think about it for a while before finally nodding to Rick. "All right."

Just as I thought it was over, Rick surprised me with his vici0us threat. "Well, let's be clear. If we see you out here anywhere near our people, if I so much as even catch a whiff of your scent, I will kill you." Well damn Rick, way to be blunt. Again.

The man gave a long smirk and nodded to Rick. "Deal." With a quick nod, the group of us decided to walk back to where the men had been trapped in the cafeteria to retrieve the food that we were promised. I was consumed with thoughts of how in hell, of anyone in the world, Axel was the one man that I had to run into. Sighing, I realized that we didn't know the names of any of the other prisoners. Turning around, I saw the Spanish man give me a slimy look and I scoffed.

Awkwardly, I turned around in the other direction and cleared my throat. "So, what are your names?" I asked, causing the rest of the group to turn to me in surprise. The Spanish man looked at me with a smile.

"Thought we'd be going by nicknames forever. Name's Tomas, fat ass over there is Big Tiny." I scowled at the insult he sent his friend but the man in question simply nodded. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Tomas. "Little man over there is Andrew," he said pointing to the smaller Spanish man. He glared at Tomas but was clearly intimidated, as he said nothing to the man. "That's Oscar," he told us pointing to the slightly shorter black man, who had given us almost no sign of emotion since we had met the prisoners. I had to admit, he unnerved me a little bit. "And that's Axel," he told us pointing to the only white man among them. So it was Axel, I wasn't going crazy. "How about you chica? You all have names too?"

I glared at him and debated for a minute giving them a fake name, but that would be pretty hard to explain to my group later. So I sucked it up and prayed that Axel wouldn't say anything when I told them my name. After all, Rain wasn't a very common name. "I'm Rain. That's Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl."

Tomas gave me a nod of approval and gave me a sideways smile. "Rain huh? I like it." I nodded and grunted out a small thanks as we made it back to the cafeteria we had been in a few hours earlier. I let Tomas pass me, and he turned back, motioning for us to follow him into the room. "Pantry's back here," he told us. I nodded and walked into the large pantry after him.

"You never tried to break out of here?" T-Dog asked the men. I had been thinking the same thing. They had had a perfect chance to escape, why not take it?

Tomas shook his head and looked back at us. "Yeah, we tried to take the doors off. But if you make one peep in here, then those freaks'll be lined up outside the door growling, trying to get in. Windows got bars on there that he couldn't get through," Tomas told us pointing at Big Tiny. I wasn't surprised, the man was a damn giant. He reminded me of a less friendly version of Hagrid.

Andrew scoffed and shoved Big Tiny slightly, although it did absolutely nothing. "Bigger than a 5x8."

Big Tiny glared down at him, crossing his arms. "You won't find me complaining. Doing 15." For what? "My left leg can barely fit on one of those bunks."

"Yeah, they don't call him Big Tiny for nothing," Axel said.

I couldn't help but wonder why they called him that so I spoke up. "Big Tiny, isn't that sort of an oxymoron?" I asked. He immediately let a sour look cross his face and I couldn't help but wonder why he looked so perturbed.

"Did you just call me a moron?" He growled at me.

What? Oh my God, come on man, did you go to school at all? "No, an oxymoron is like a paradox. Like jumbo shrimp. You know? Like shrimp are really small but they say that they're jumbo." I could see that I was getting absolutely nowhere so I sighed and shook my head. "Ya know, never mind. Didn't mean to offend you buddy."

I heard Tomas scoff ahead of us and I grit my teeth, turning to look at him. "You done jerking each other off? Sick of waiting back here." I growled and walked back into the pantry. Jesus, this was a little bit of food? The place was stacked from floor to ceiling with different types of non perishable foods.

Apparently Rick was thinking the same thing as me when he turned to meet Tomas, eye for eye. "This what you call a little bit of food?"

Tomas shrugged, "goes fast." Rick scoffed and hummed back at the man. Tomas walked into the food and started to point to a few items in the food area. "You can have a bag of corn, some tuna fish-" Tomas was trying to argue before Rick cut him off.

"We said half. That's the deal," Rick told him with an attitude that left no room for any debating on the issue. "What's in there?" He asked before walking over to a closed closet. Tomas warned Rick about walking in but he ignored the warning. I went to follow him after he opened the door before he fell out gagging. I ran to his side, but he merely grabbed onto my arm to have me help him stand up.

Tomas was laughing and I almost went to punch him in the throat. "He wanted to know. Can't wait for my own pot to piss in," he said with a nasty grin. I sneered at him before pulling Rick up and grabbing the bags of food we were owed. I helped throw the bags to T and Daryl before we were settled with our agreement.

I stood in front of Tomas and glared at him. "You can wait in the yard. We'll be dropping off this food with our group and then we'll be back to help you clear out Cell Block A. That's the easiest for us to do." Tomas nodded at me and we walked out of the cafeteria, making our way back to the cell block. We made it to the gate, after separating from the prisoners and T-Dog called to the group.

The man laughed and dropped the food on the table, grabbing my bags from me. "Food's here," he yelled to the group. I smiled as the rest of our people walked out of the cell that I had last seen Hershel get wheeled into.

"What you got?" Glenn asked as he came out of the cell with Maggie wrapped in his arms. Judging by the fact that she was no longer crying, I assumed that Hershel was still alive and hopefully on the road to recovery.

Rick motioned to the food and gave Lori a long look. "Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans. There's a lot more where this came from," he told the group that all were celebrating the fact that we now had the food to keep us sustained for a few more weeks. Hopefully through the first few weeks of the baby's life. I smiled at Carol, giving her shoulder a squeeze before walking off to the perch and sitting down on the makeshift bed I shared with Daryl. A few minutes later, I heard the thumping of boots on the stairs and I knew that it would be Daryl trying to get some more information out of me.

I gave him a small smile as he walked up to the bed and plopped himself down besides me. "They're gettin ready to go clear out the cell block for the prisoners. You ready?" He asked me. I nodded and allowed him to pull me up. "Rain, what was it down there? Ya know ya can tell me girl."

I smiled at Daryl and gave him a light hug. "I know Daryl but it's nothing. I thought that Axel was someone I knew but it was just someone that looked like him. A bad memory of my past but that's it. Nothing to worry about, just me being paranoid." I gave him a smile, but he didn't seem to buy it. Still, he nodded and we went to catch up with Rick and T-Dog. "Ready guys?" I asked.

They nodded and Rick handed me a machete. "Give it to Oscar when we meet up with them. If we're gonna clear out the cell block, we need to be as quiet as possible. Hopefully they understand that." I nodded and followed the men out of the cell block and to the yard, where the prisoners were standing around talking. They turned to us when they saw us, and met up with us at the entrance to Cell Block A. Rick turned to the men and handed Tomas a small machete, as I handed Oscar the full sized machete Rick had given me earlier.

Tomas scoffed and shoved the machete back at Rick. "Why do I need this when I got this?" He asked Rick, bringing up his pistol and admiring it. I snorted and Tomas gave me a nasty look. Rick took the machete and shoved it back at Tomas, who this time took it, albeit reluctantly.

"You don't fire guns, not unless your back's up against a wall. Noise attracts them. It really riles them up. We'll go in two by two. Rain will lead. Daryl will run point with T. I'll bring up the rear with you. Stay tight, hold formation no matter how close the walkers get anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head. And that's where you aim. These things only go down with a head shot," Rick instructed the prisoner. Naturally I'd go first, wonderful.

Tomas snorted and got ready to go in, positioning himself next to Rick. "Ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man," Tomas said. I couldn't help but let a shiver run up my spine at his words. Although I didn't think he was stupid enough to attack any of us right now, I still got a bad vibe from Tomas.

Rick turned to look at Tomas and sent him a dark glare. "They ain't men. They're something else. Just remember to go for the brain. Rain, open the door." I nodded at Rick and slid the door open, using the light from my group behind me to guide my path. We hadn't even made it five paces before the men started to complain.

Andrew, who was right behind me, was clearly afraid. I could practically feel him shaking behind me. "Man, it's too damn dark in here." Well maybe if you'd hold up the flashlight it wouldn't be so dark you idiot.

"Gotta hold it up high out in front of you. You're gonna hear them before you see them," Rick told him. He was right, the growls and hisses always came long before you saw the first of them.

I heard the groans of the walkers and knew that we were about to come across a herd. I tensed my muscles, waiting for the herd to actually come into view. "It's coming!" Andrew hissed in fear. The rest of us all hissed at him to be quiet before turning back around to the oncoming herd of walkers. I looked hard, and saw it. It wasn't a huge herd but it was big enough that we were going to have to be careful.

I was just about to fire my first arrow when I heard the shout of Tomas behind me. "You wanna taste me?" He yelled before sprinting past us, into the front of the herd, the rest of the prisoners all following suit. Well except for Oscar, I couldn't see him. The men were all swiping at the walkers, with no actual aim. With the rate that they were going, it was only a matter of time before one of them got bit. With no other choice, I ran to the prisoners and joined in the fight. With our half of the group, the remaining walkers fell quickly. I was panting when Rick angrily stormed up to Tomas, who had a few specks of walker blood on his face.

He walked up and pointed to Tomas' head. "It's gotta be the brain. Not the stomach, not the heart- the brain," Rick growled at man. Tomas glared hard at Rick.

"I hear you," he growled through gritted teeth.

"The brain," Rick repeated.

Tomas nodded and walked over to a walker that wasn't dead and shoved his machete through the skull, killing the walker for the last time. "Like that?" He asked Rick.

Rick nodded, clearly steaming from what had just happened. "Uh-huh. Stay in tight formation. No more prison riot crap," he growled at all of the prisoners.

"All right," Tomas nodded. I was about to walk off with the rest of the group when I saw a slow trickle of blood running down Big Tiny's arm. I slowly let myself fall to the back of the group and when I fell into step with Big Tiny, I pulled down the collar of his jumpsuit and saw it. A perfect walker bite. He panicked, pushing me away from him and I shook my head at him knowing that it was right on the shoulder. There was no way to save him from this bite.

He started to back up into the corner as Rick approached him. "I'm telling you, I don't feel anything. It's just a scratch." Yeah for now, but I've seen it, the infection will spread faster than you can believe.

Rick shook his head and actually looked genuinely sorry for the man. I couldn't blame him, it was no way for anyone to die. Even a prioner that had done nothing good in their life. "I'm sorry, man," Rick told Big Tiny.

Big Tiny panicked and jumped away from us. "I can keep fighting!"

"You cut that old guy's leg off to save his life," Andrew pointed out motioning to Big Tiny's shoulder, where the bite was. Exactly, who can take off the leg, not the entire shoulder. There was no way that the operation would work.

Rick shook his head at the men and motioned to the bite. "Look at where the bite is."

Big Tiny was still panicking and shaking his head doing his best to justify that he wasn't going to become a walker. "Guys, I'm fine! Just- I'm fine. Look at me- I'm not changing into one of those things."

Oscar spoke up and turned to Rick. "Look, man, there has to be something we can do."

Axel looked at Rick, trying to come up with a viable solution to keeping Big Tiny alive. "We could just lock him up." And let him turn into a walker in a cage. Nope.

"Quarantine him. We gotta do something. Why you just standing there?" Andrew asked, obviously angry that Rick seemed to be just giving up on Big Tiny. Well too bad, at this point there's nothing that we can do to save him.

Axel looked back at us and pleaded, "we gotta save him."

Rick shook his head and looked at the men. "There's nothing we can do." He was right, we should just put him down to spare him the pain of the infection. Have a peaceful death here.

Andrew growled and pointing his machete at Rick. "You son of a bitch."

Big Tiny once more started to plead, "I'm all ri—" but just before he could finish, Tomas jumped up and drove his machete through Big Tiny's head. With no warning, he continued to destroy the body that had once belonged to Big Tiny. I grimaced and looked away from the sight. How could Tomas do that to his own friend? I could tell that it had affected the other prisoners as well when I caught the looks of fear and disgust spread on their faces. Finally, Tomas stood up from the body and I nearly gagged at the sight of blood running down his face.

Wordlessly, Tomas walked ahead and we all followed. Falling into step with Rick and Daryl, I heard Rick mumble to Daryl. "You see the look on his face?" Rick asked to which he nodded. "He makes one move, just give me a signal." Daryl nodded again and we all walked through the generator room for A to a set of double doors where we could hear a herd of walkers on the other side of the doors. Rick looked at Tomas and told him, "open the door."

Tomas gave Rick an incredulous look before snorting. "I ain't opening that."

Rick glared at Tomas and nodded to him. "Yes, you are. If you want this cell block, you're gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them. Because we need to control this." He was right, if we opened both we would be overtaken by the walkers.

Tomas stood by the door and looked back at us. "You bitches ready? I got this." I scowled but nodded anyways, nocking my arrow and preparing for the flood of walkers that was bound to come. Just as I thought that they would be able to do one thing right, Tomas swung both doors open before jumping away, letting far too many walkers into the room. Fucking idiot!

"I said one door!" Rick screamed before launching his machete into the forehead of a walker that had gotten dangerously close to him, at the same time that I released an arrow, killing a walker at the back of the pack.

Tomas growled and took out two walkers. "Shit happens," he grunted back to Rick as he fought off a particularly strong walker. Good, I hope it gets you. I released arrow after arrow, finally seeing that we were making a dent.

I saw that there was a large gap in the middle of the floor that was causing the walkers to all crowd into it, but before I could do anything I heard Rick call out, "T, mind the gap." Just as I took out another walker, I saw Tomas swing a walker on top of Rick. I shrieked as the walker came dangerously close to biting Rick, but luckily Daryl was there. He pulled the walker off, killing it, and helped Rick up. Shooting the last of my arrows, I turned to Tomas, ready to scream at him, but the calm look on Rick's face made me back down. It terrified me, I would have thought that he was angry, but he looked completely level headed.

Tomas walked up to Rick, panting and gave a small shrug. "It was coming at me, bro," he said to our leader. I glared but kept a clamp down on my tongue.

Rick nodded and gave the tiniest of smiles. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it. Shit happens." What? That's it? We all sat in utter surprise, even Tomas until Rick did the unthinkable. Pulling his machete up, he swung it down onto Tomas' head, killing him immediately. I gasped in shock as Tomas fell to the ground, dead.

"No!" The prisoners screamed before Andrew went tearing off into the distance. I went to run off after him but Rick held out a hand to stop me. "Easy, now. I got him."

I nodded to him and turned back to Oscar and Axel who were staring at Tomas in shock. "Man, get down on your knees," T-Dog growled at the men with his and Daryl's weapons pointed at the two men. With them taking care of that situation, I went walking around the room, going to collect both mine and Daryl's arrows. When I was done, I walked back over to where the two men were on the ground. Oscar was as calm as can be while Axel was a blubbering mess.

Axel shook his head at the weapons aimed at them. "We don't have no affiliation to what just happened. Tell him, Oscar," he said prodding at the huge man.

Oscar shook his head but continued to stare at us. "Stop talking, man," he told Axel.

Daryl nocked an arrow, as I did as well, and it clearly sent Axel into a fit of fear at the prospect of losing his life to us. "No! We didn't have nothing to do with that." Somehow I believed that Axel wasn't a part of it, Oscar though I wasn't too sure about.

"You didn't know? You knew," Daryl growled before poking Axel in the shoulder with his crossbow. The man in question was now crying harder than he had been.

T-Dog seemed to be getting antsy with the prisoners when he looked over at us. "Daryl, Rain, let's end this now." I was about to nod my consent, at least I wouldn't have to fear Axel getting loose lipped, when he spoke up from the floor.

He was crying, but somehow he managed to make coherent thoughts. "Sir, please, please, listen to me! It was them that was bad. It wasn't us." Oh of course it wasn't.

"Oh, that's convenient," Daryl sneered.

Axel shook his head and looked over to me. "You saw what he did to Tiny. He was my friend. Please, we ain't like that. I like my pharmaceuticals, but I'm no killer. Oscar here, he's a B and E, and he ain't very good at it neither. We ain't the violent kind, they were! Please, I swear to God! I wanna live!" He was begging us to spare him now. Good God, how had Tomas never gotten to the point of killing Axel? He was incredibly weak and whiny compared to the rest of them.

Daryl leaned down and looked at Oscar. "What about you?" He asked him.

Oscar finally looked at Daryl and answered him with a straight face. "I ain't never pleaded for my life. And I ain't about to start now. So you do what you gotta do." I stared at the two for a moment before making my decision.

"Daryl, let them go. We have the cell block cleared for them. Let them have it and lets call it a day." Daryl nodded and motioned to the two men to stand up as we led them into the cell block seeing the dead bodies littering the floor. It was sickening knowing that most likely Oscar and Axel had once been friends with these men. Rick caught up with us, and judging by the look on his face, Andrew had been taken care of.

Axel let out a deep sigh as he saw the mess. "Oh, man. I knew these guys. They were good men." Just as I had thought.

I shook my head and Daryl turned around. "Let's go," he told us before leading myself and T-Dog out of the cell block.

Oscar turned to us with an incrediluous look on his face. "So you're just gonna leave us in here?" Pretty much buddy, we agreed that we wouldn't be seeing anything of each other. That deal still stands.

"Man, this is sick," Axel cried.

Rick shook his head and turned to look at the prisoners. "We're locking down this cell block. From now on, this part of the prison is yours. Take it or leave it. That was the deal."

Daryl turned to the men and muttered, "you think this is sick? You don't wanna know what's outside. Consider yourselves the lucky ones." He was right, this was nothing compared to the carnage that was going on outside.

We began to walk out when T-Dog turned around and looked at the men. "Sorry about your friends, man. A word of advice- take those bodies outside and burn them." T-Dog turned back to us and I put a hand on his back, leading him out of Cell Block A and back to C. As we walked in, Rick threw open the gate and everyone came up to crowd us.

Carol walked up to me and I smiled. "They're dealt with, they should be keeping to their side of the prison now. How's Hershel doing?" I asked her hoping that the old man's condition hadn't worsened over the day.

"He's not good but we're thinking that he's gonna make it. Now come on, it's time for dinner." I smiled at her and went to the living area where we all crowded around for a silent dinner, not nearly like the celebratory dinner we had had the night before. I sighed and finished my rice before standing up and making my way to the perch, only to be joined by Daryl a few minutes later.

"Hey there," I muttered to him hoping that he would stay quiet.

He looked at me and sat down next to me. "You OK? Some pretty bad shit went down today." I looked up at him and after hesitating for a moment I nodded at him.

"I'm OK. It got pretty bad today but it's all good. Just been a long day and had some surprises along the way." He nodded at me and we stared each other in the eyes for a moment. I leaned in a gave him a long kiss, to which he responded to. He pulled me in deeper before he pulled away and poked me in the side. I laughed and shoved his hand away from me.

After a pause Daryl looked back at me and cleared his throat. "So gonna tell me what's been making you so quiet today?" He asked me. I knew he'd ask but I had hoped that he wouldn't.

I smiled at him and shook my head at him. "I will, but not today. I'm tired, it's been a long day." He nodded at me and pulled me into his chest where I settled in and listened to his steady heartbeat. He may not be a man of many words but he knew how to make me feel comforted and safe. He kissed my forehead and I smiled at his warmth and snuggled in, happily falling asleep, exhausted from the day.

A/N: Finally! It's up! I'm so sorry about the wait! Soooo how do you guys like it? This was more of a filler chapter and I'm not very happy with it but my next few chapters will have a lot of Rain's back story and we'll see more bonding from her with Daryl and others. Anyways, school has been keeping me super busy so I don't find a lot of time to write, but on the bright side, I do have the outline of season three written and it should be great ;) Hopefully I'll have another chapter up in the next few weeks, I'm sorry for the waits! As always, a huge thank you for the follows and favorites from **luna-auroraqueenofthenorth**, **raind2000, GirlIncognito99, KatiPillar, Kaynar, SloneWesell, Kisses N' Cyanide, 1800CHOKEDAHOE, golden-priestess, EverGreenRiver, khamilton16, **and **Olympichopefull98**. Anyways, I really hope you guys liked the chapter, and please review! My classes make me sad and reviews brighten my day! -A


	25. Good Night Love

A/N: WARNING! I just wanted to let you guys know that there is violence and gore, more than usual, in this chapter. Also, toward the end of this chapter, there is mentions of drug/alcohol abuse as well as a sexually abusive situation. Just wanted to give you all a fair warning, but anyways, happy reading! -A

I yawned, feeling the bright rays of sun on my face and groaned slightly. It had been a restless night's sleep, all night I had been thinking about Axel and what had happened in the prison yesterday. With only two prisoners remaining, their group had dwindled fast. Hearing rustling downstairs I went to roll to the side of the bed and was surprised when I hit the cold metal floor. Letting out a quick shriek, I rubbed my ass that had made a nice cushion. Rolling my eyes, I went to stand up when I heard a small snicker coming from behind me. I turned around and saw that it was none other than Daryl. "Something funny, Dixon?" I asked, shooting him a sharp glare. He began to laugh full out and I couldn't help but scowl at him. I reached onto the cot and pulled off an old pillow, chucking it at his face. It hit him, and immediately wiped the smile from his face.

I laughed at my perfect aim and pulled myself back onto the bed, reaching for my boots. Just as I had gotten within arm's reach of them, I felt a heavy force hit my chest and topple me over. I looked up and saw that it was Daryl, who was straddling me and pressing me into the mattress. I growled and tried to heave him off, but he was too heavy for me. I grunted and thrashed around, but it did nothing, he wouldn't budge. "Ya got a little somethin," he told me before flicking my nose. I laughed and continuously bucked my hips, trying to get him off, but he did nothing but laugh at my futile attempts. I went to raise my hips again, but this time I felt myself hit a bump. I looked down and my face immediately lit up like a Christmas tree, along with Daryl's. I was sure that he had gotten hard with me before, but I'd never... Felt it. He launched himself off of me in a stuttering, bumbling, mess. I laughed awkwardly and swiped my hand through my hair. Well, at least if it was any consolation to him, he seemed to be pretty big. "Uh, well. It's kinda late. Maybe we should go down? Um downstairs!" I stopped myself from making it any more awkward by yanking my boots on and flying down the stairs.

I had made it to the landing and was about to head to the sitting area when I ran headfirst into Rick. "Whoa, girl. Slow down there. What's got you in a frenzy?" He seemed to look over my fluffed hair, wrinkled clothes, and red face and his own turned slightly red. However, it was the devious smile on his face that made it ten times worse. "Ah, I gotcha. No need to explain," he told me before winking and turning away.

I stared after him with my mouth hanging wide open. "Wait! No Rick that didn't happen!" I yelled to him. I sighed and looked back to see the entire group staring at me as if I'd lost my marbles. Maybe I had. Since when did I freak out so much when I saw that a guy was hard for me? Oh yeah, since it was Daryl!

I jumped as a hand was placed on my lower back and I let out a sigh when I saw that it was the very man that was consuming my thoughts right now. "C'mon, batsy. Let's go, gonna be a long day." I gave him a sidelong look as we walked to the table and he smiled at me. "Batsy. Like bat shit crazy." I laughed and shoved him away from me. I finally made it to the table where everyone was standing and Rick gave me a teasing grin to which I rolled my eyes and flicked him off. I received a small snort from Lori's direction and I smiled at the older woman. I felt like she needed all the niceness that she could get right now, seeing that her and Rick obviously weren't on the best of terms right now.

"Alright guys, let's head outside. We've got quite the cleanup job to do today," he told us and we all sighed. Despite my reluctance to do anything today though, I sucked it up and followed the group to the yard where Rick, Carol, T-Dog, Daryl, and I separated to the yard from the rest of the group to figure out what to do with the bodies. As we came to a stop I couldn't help but to wonder where Glenn and Maggie were. I hadn't seen them all day. Rick turned back to us and we all gathered around him. "Okay, let's get the other cars in," he told us and we all nodded.

Daryl pulled out the keys to his bike and nodded to the other side of the prison. "We'll park 'em in the west entry of the yard," he told Rick. That meant that myself, him, and one other person would have to move the cars.

Rick nodded and looked to where Daryl had suggested. "Good, our vehicles camped out there look like a giant "vacancy" sign." He was right, it made the prison look like a safe haven to anyone that happened to be passing by. "After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn 'em," he said motioning out to the yard, where there had to be at least fifty walker bodies. Oh yeah, that was gonna be fun.

I heard T-Dog sigh on my side. "Gonna be a long day," he moaned. I nodded, this work was back breaking and the hundred degree heat didn't help matters at all.

"What's a matter buddy? Getting old? Can't do all that young fellow stuff anymore?" I asked him, prodding at his sides. He shoved me away and laughed, the rest of the group also laughing at his expense.

"Shut the hell up Rain," T said laughing at me. He looked around and seemed to also notice that two of our members were missing at the moment.

Daryl was finally the one to ask when he turned around to Rick. "Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help." Seriously, we were all the true able bodied workers and we needed all the help we could get. We were even taking a risk having Carol out here, she was the only one who knew how to do a C section if Lori were to go into labor. Hopefully Lori can hold it until we can get this job done and Carol can get cleaned up.

Carol nodded behind us and looked over at Daryl. "Up in the guard tower," she told him. I let a small smile slip onto my lips. Sly guys, but not quite sly enough. We all knew what they were doing.

Daryl glared at the tower and let a confused look grace his features. Oh come on Daryl, I know you're a little oblivious to the ways of the naughty, but I know you can figure this one out. "Guard tower? They were just up there last night," he said to no one in particular. Yes, very good Daryl. Now what does a couple do when they are alone together in a room with no one to interrupt? They have sex! Well except for you because I'm pretty sure you think I have cooties. Oh come on Rain, this is not the time to be talking to yourself. And especially about yours and Daryl's not existent sex life. "Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl called up to the tower, and I jumped at the sudden volume of his voice. Way to be gentle sweetheart.

I heard the door click and I laughed when I saw it open to reveal a shirtless Glenn, who was buttoning and zipping his pants. Well damn Glenn, taking every last moments opportunity to do something aren't we? "Hey, what's up, guys?" Glenn asked with an awkward laugh. Oh come on man, we all know what was just going on. No need to try to hide it or look innocent.

"You coming?" Daryl called up to him. I couldn't help it. That time I burst out laughing, along with everyone else in our small group. Even from this distance I could see Glenn turning a bright red. The laughter got even worse when Maggie walked out with ruffled clothes and messed up hair, looking confused as ever. Well as least this time it was someone else who was getting the awkward, "oh, what were you two just doing?" look.

Glenn stared at us all dumbfounded for a moment before stupidly asking us, "what?" Damn, the two of them must have really been caught up in the moment. Well hey, at least someone's been getting in on around here. Alright, damn it hormonal teenage part of me. You stop that shit right now. I smiled as the laughter got even louder. It was good, it wasn't too often anymore that we all got to laugh. The world was too serious to have any fun anymore.

I looked over at Daryl and saw that he was wearing one of his rare, genuine smiles. "You comin'?" He called to the two. We all laughed and I leaned over to him.

"Aw Daryl I think we interrupted them before they could get there," I told him just loud enough for the couple to hear. At that, it wasn't just giggles anymore, Everyone in the group was in complete hysterics. Serves them right for every time they've made some awkward comment to Daryl and I.

Daryl laughed and smiled at me for a moment before looking back up to the guard tower where I could see the deep blush that both Glenn and Maggie were wearing. I glanced over to Maggie and saw that she was flipping me the bird so I gave her a sassy wink. The brunette rolled her eyes but smiled at me anyways. "Come on, we could use a hand," Daryl called to the couple. The two began to make their way down and I sighed. It had been fun but there was always more work to be done.

"Yeah, we'll be right down," Glenn called to us as they went back into the tower.

I smiled as I turned back to the group. It had been a long time since we had all had smiles on our faces. Glenn and Maggie had made their way out of the tower and come to stand next to us, Maggie taking a spot next to me. She shoved me and gave me a friendly glare. "I shrugged my shoulders at her and leaned over. "Sisters pick on each other right?" I asked her. She smiled and nodded at me, pulling me in for a quick side hug.

Rick was opening his mouth ready to give us the orders for the day when T-Dog cut him off. "Hey, Rick," he said, pointing out into the yard. I looked in the direction he was pointing, trying to figure out what he was talking about when I saw it. The two remaining prisoners, Axel and Oscar. They were standing at the fence staring at us. I felt my stomach leap into my throat and knew that my skin had turned a pale white. Daryl looked at me, knowing that I would have some sort of reaction to them. I gave him a weak smile, but he shook his head and scowled at me. He looked like he was about to chew me out, but Rick opened his mouth first.

Rick turned and stiffened when he saw the prisoners. Obviously angry, he turned back to face myself, T-Dog, and Daryl. "Come with me," he mumbled to us, and we all followed him up the yard. We were walking towards the prisoners, who were trying to meet up with us. As we got within a few feet of us, Rick put his hand up to them. "That's close enough. We had an agreement," he told them. Well, at least he was trying to be civil at first.

Axel nodded at Rick and stopped alongside Oscar. He was shaking, that much I could tell. "Please, mister. We know that. We made a deal. But you've gotta understand we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies- people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts." Even though I wished that Axel had never shown up here, I couldn't help but feel bad for the man. He knew, as well as we did, that if he went out on the road he wouldn't survive. And a death by the walkers is something that I wouldn't even wish upon my worst enemy.

Rick stared at them for a moment and shook his head, not wanting to fall for the pity routine. I was sure that since he had been a Sheriff, he had seen that one time and time again. "Why don't you move the bodies out?" He asked them.

"You should be burning them," T-Dog put in. He was right, the smell of the walker bodies would just attract more. And leaving the bodies there only produced an awful smell. One that I could only imagine was most likely toxic. They needed to be taking the bodies out and burning them like T had suggested to them yesterday.

Axel nodded and at T and then shook his head. "We tried. We did." Uh huh, you tried but yet I don't see any pile of burning bodies over in the courtyard.

Oscar snorted and looked over at T-Dog. "The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. So hump in a body and just running back inside." I nodded. He made sense, we hadn't secured that side of the prison, so of course walkers were getting in. And they were way too scared to come over to our side to burn the bodies. Hell, Rick had threatened to kill them if he ever saw them again. Must have taken a lot of guts to even come out here.

"Look, we had nothing to do with Thomas and Andrew. Nothing," Axel cried out without warning. I knew that they most likely had nothing to do with the attack, but it was better safe than sorry. There was no way that Rick would let these men in a place where his pregnant wife and son were living.

Daryl sneered at the man and spit out, "you trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro." I looked over at him and wondered what had gotten into him. I supposed that he really didn't like the idea of someone groveling for a way to survive. Daryl wasn't that type of person, and I suppose people like that bothered him.

Axel looked over at Daryl, and I could have sworn that he was about ready to drop down onto his knees and plead at Rick's feet. "We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just, please, please. Don't make us live in that place." I knew that he was tugging at Rick's heartstrings, but he stayed strong.

Rick shook his head and kept a blank face looking at the men. "Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave." I knew that it was a tough thing to do, but Rick was forced into a narrow spot. He was stuck with the memories of what had happened with Andrew and Tomas. He didn't want to take the same risk with these men.

Oscar snorted again and turned away from us. "I told you this was a waste of time. They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out, like. Humph," Oscar huffed again and I glared at him. I knew that he was upset, but we were at least giving them a choice, there was no need to be a dick about it. They had pushed our hand after all. We had been willing to play nice.

Axel shook his head at his friend and turned to look at us. "These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, like Thomas and Andrew. We've all made mistakes to get in here, chief. And I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me we've paid our due- enough that we would rather hit that road than to go back into that shithole." He waited for a moment to see if any of us would stick up for him, but we all remained silent. He could beg as much as he wanted, there was no way right now that we had the trust to let them live around us.

"C'mon, dude," Oscar huffed pulling Axel with him.

The two men retreated back into their cell and we all sighed. As we made the walk back up the our own cell block, Rick turned over to T-Dog and stared incredulously at him. "Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?" He asked.

"I never stopped," T immediately growled at Rick. "Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves." I sighed, feeling like this was turning into another Randall situation. And we all saw how well that one worked out. We lost a few group members, and the farm.

Carol sighed and shuffled a little bit, as she, Maggie, and Glenn caught up with us. "I don't know. Axel seems a little unstable. After all we've been through? We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it? It's just been us for so long. They're strangers." She was right, even if we did put our trust in these men and they turned out to be good, we didn't know them. We had all been together for months and there was a bond between us. It would be weird to bring in someone new. We made it up to the gates of the cell block and made our way inside. I smiled as I saw Hershel sitting at the table. It was the first time that I'd seen the old man since the accident. He was one tough son of a bitch if he was already up. Now walking would be another matter, but I had seen this morning that Carl had found him a pair of crutches to use. I was ecstatic that the older man had made it, and now was on the road to recovery.

Maggie looked around and shook her head. "I don't- It feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around." She was right, at the moment there was no room for new people in our grup dynamic. Especially prisoners whose friends had tried to kill our leader.

T-Dog shook his head and looked over at Hershel. "You brought us in."

The older man smiled, but shook his head. "Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms. Didn't give us a choice," he told the younger man. I nodded, Hershel's own man had shot one of our kids, of course they had to take us in. With Hershel being a Christian, his thing was that it had been the right thing to do.

"They can't even kill walkers," Glenn put in.

I smiled sadly and looked at T. "Don't you remember the shit that they pulled trying to kill the walkers like a mad man? T-Dog, they might not be dangerous but I don't think they're exactly helpful. I mean, look at Axel. The man barely looks like he could figure out how to open the gates. And Oscar, he's obviously upset with us, and I would hate to do something to make him snap. It's just not worth it, letting them live here with us." I saw the dejected look on T's face and I felt horrible, but someone had to make him see that letting these people in was a bad idea.

Rick nodded at me and let out a small sigh. "They're convicts, bottom line." Rick was right, no matter what, these men had done something to land them here. And none of what they did was exactly noble.

Daryl, who had been silent all of the conversation, finally spoke up. "Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do. I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with them. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could have been with them just as easy as I am out here with you, guys." I gave him a sidelong glance. I supposed he meant because of Merle, but that just wasn't who Daryl was. He was a kind spirited man with a tough shell. But did he mean that he was for letting them in with us?

T-Dog looked surprised and turned towards Daryl. "So are you with me?" He asked.

Daryl stayed silent for a minute before shaking his head. "Hell, no. Let 'em take their chances out on the road, just like we did." I nodded at him, he had just been defending the fact that they weren't these horrible people, that anyone could have been them. Any single one of us.

"What I'm saying, Daryl-" T-Dog started before he was cut off by Rick.

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid. Wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial- suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and in 2 weeks later shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands." And with that, Rick stalked off and I sighed. I looked back and remembered that. I had been younger, still in high school, but I still remembered it. Good looking kid got all upset with his girlfriend for talking to another guy or something and he stabbed her. Turned out he liked it, so after he got off, he went and did it to another girl. This one, he had had absolutely no connection with. The whole thing had been this huge deal.

I had been so caught up in my own thoughts that I hadn't even noticed Daryl come up from behind me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I felt the vibrations from his laugh on my back and I quickly calmed down, allowing myself to smile at the warmth of his touch. "Whoa girl, just me. C'mon, I'm gonna go do a little repair on the bike. Could use an extra set of hands?" He subtly asked me to go out into the yard with him. I smiled and nodded, grabbing a few rags and tailing Daryl out of the cell block. We walked into the yard and I smiled as we came onto the bike. "Alright, I gotta put in a new brake pedal, so can you clean up the front?" He asked me. I nodded and decided to tease him a bit.

I pulled off my thin jacket, leaving me in my white shorts- from having been bleached so much- and grey vest. I wasn't normally one to tease like that, but it was Daryl, who I knew would be uncomfortable with it, so I figured why the hell not? "So you're gonna make me do a woman's job huh?" I asked him with a smarmy tone, grabbing a rag and leaning over the bike to start wiping it down. Daryl looked over at me, and I saw his eyes immediately bulge. I knew that he was trying as hard as he could not to stare, and I tried as hard as I could not to laugh. He huffed and went back to what he was doing and I let out a small laugh. For a while, we just worked on the bike in silence, I was now tightening the screws. As I worked though, I watched out of the corner of my eye and let a small smile slip across my lips every time he looked over and thought I wasn't looked. Curiosity finally hit me and I looked over at Daryl. "Hey Daryl, what's the story behind the bike anyways?" I asked him.

He looked surprised that I'd asked but he shrugged and went back to his work. "It was Merle's actually." That part I had known, I remembered back while we were on the road, before we'd reached the farm, that he would always get mad when people touched his brothers bike. "He got it when he was sixteen. I was really young at the time. Not much that I remember from that age but I still remember that stupid grin on his face bringing it up the driveway. I'm pretty sure he stole it though, cuz he went away to juvie for a while after that. He put the bike away, hid it well out in the shed. He told me before he left that people would come around looking for the bike because they wanted it, and if they asked, to tell them that we didn't have a bike. A few people came by, but I was always loyal to him, told them that we didn't have one. After a while they stopped coming around and Merle came back a few weeks later. I suppose that was one of the crimes he actually got away with." I stayed silent for a moment and then got up and hugged Daryl.

He seemed shocked but he loosened up and hugged me back. He gave me a questioning look, and I smiled at him. "Always were loyal weren't you?" I asked him. He nodded and I let go. I went back to work but turned back to him, "hey, that was a cute story about the bike. I knew that Merle wasn't all sex and drugs and illegal shit." Daryl smiled and we went back to work.

I had finished tightening the bolts and was about to ask Daryl what else he wanted me to do when I heard the car engines start. I turned around and saw that the group was moving the cars. I also saw that Axel was walking up, with a grin on his face as he looked at the bike. I couldn't help but to stiffen, there was no one to hide behind now. He came up and stood right behind Daryl, luckily avoiding me. "Twin cylinder. Is that a Triumph?" He asked Daryl.

Without even looking back, he snorted. "Don't even look at it," he snapped at Axel. I knew it wasn't just because it was Merle's bike, it was just because he wanted no part of the fight between Rick and the prisoners for letting the stay with us. I didn't blame him, I hoped that by giving him the cold shoulder Axel would give up and leave us alone.

Axel shuffled around for a minute, and I knew that he wasn't going to give up that easily. "Didn't want it bored out?" Axel asked as Daryl revved the engine. "Sounds like it could use a tune-up," Axel tried again. I could tell by the tightening of his hands that Daryl was beginning to get annoyed with Axel. "I'm pretty handy with the grind. Heads are leakin'," Axel said once more.

Daryl seemed to finally have enough as he stood up and threw down the rag. "I know my bikes!" He yelled at Axel, who jumped at the sudden volume change. "Man, will you just stop? Have some balls," Daryl grumbled at Axel.

The other man looked very dejected before stalking off in the other direction. "Just sayin'," he grumbled as he walked away.

I turned back to Daryl and rolled my eyes. "You know, he's scared. He doesn't want to stay in the cell block because it haunts him and he doesn't want to leave because he's scared of what's out there. I was scared like that once too. You can't blame him, he's trying to do everything in his power to stay with us." I sat for a moment waiting for a response, but all I got was a small huff. Scoffing, I went back to the bike and wiped down the wheels as Daryl went to looking at the gears.

I turned around as I heard the squeak of the cell block door and I smiled when I saw that it was Hershel, who seemed to be learning how to walk on the crutches. From the look of it, he was doing pretty well, being led by Lori and Beth. I poked at Daryl, who looked up at me and I pointed to the older man. He chuckled slightly and let a small smirk grace his lips. "All right. Just take your time," Lori told Hershel, who was working on getting down the stairs.

I smiled as I saw that Beth was fretting over her father. "Daddy, don't push yourself," the younger girl pleaded with her father. I laughed, Hershel was like me. Stubborn to a T. There was no way that he was going to take it easy. He didn't care if it meant potentially falling or tripping a few times. At least he was trying and not devastated at the loss of his leg.

Hershel seemed to find the same thing as funny as I had when he started to laugh. "What else am I going to do? I can't stand looking up at the bottom of that bunk," he told his daughter as he attempted to take the stairs on his own. "Whoa," he cried as he started to tip over, but luckily Lori and Beth were there to help him. He slowly took the rest of the steps and smiled proudly at himself. He tapped the crutch on the ground a few times and looked at the two females. "You know? I can go pretty steady," he assured them. Even with his assurance though, they were still reluctant to release their grip on him.

The two women finally moved away and Lori was smiling happily at him. It was the first genuine smile I'd seen from her in a while. "That's a good start. Want to take a rest?" She asked him. Yeah right Lori, he's just getting started.

Hershel smiled at her and gave her a devious glance. "Rest?" He asked her while laughing. "Let's go for a little stroll," he told her while starting ahead on the crutches. I smiled at him as he went around in circles.

Calling out to Hershel, I told him "Hey Hershel! You're a natural on those!"

He smiled back at me and laughed while hopping in circles with them. "That I am, Rain. I suppose I was always meant to only have one leg!" I laughed and turned back to the bike. However, not even a moment had gone by before Rick called a few of us over. I sat by and watched as Rick gave the prisoners some provisions that would last them about a week if they were careful with their rations.

Rick stood in front of Axel and handed him a box full of food and a few bottles of water. "There's enough food in there to last you guys a week. Cut you loose when we get back," Rick said. He was referring to the fact that we had to move the cars around and finish clearing the yard of the walkers before we could let the men out there.

Axel nodded and took the box of food from Rick's hands. I could tell that he was disappointed, but he knew at this rate there was nothing that could be done for them. "Thank you, bro," he told Rick who nodded at him. Oh well, at least Axel was being a gracious loser. He's doing a better job than I would have done.

Rick nodded at him and managed to keep a straight face. "Sit tight," he told the two men before walking away.

I was walking away as well when I heard Oscar ask Axel, "Thank you, bro"? I laughed, they may have been prisoners, but they treated each other like family, just the way that we all treated each other. As I followed Rick out of the top of the yard, I looped around and went to the cars, standing besides Rick and Glenn.

We were down by the fences and there was a walker growling across the fence. Glenn pulled out his gun and turned to Rick. "Should I take her out?" He asked.

Rick shook his head and pushed Glenn's gun down. "No. If that armory hadn't been picked clean, we could spare the ammo." He was right, throughtout the winter, our ammo supply had dwindled to a near zero. I only had two full magazines left and that was it. We had about a half of a box of additional ammo, but after we go through that, we'll be completely out.

Glenn nodded and placed his gun back into its holster. "I'll start making runs," he told Rick and I nodded. We needed to start going on runs. That food wouldn't last us forever, we needed bullets, and we had absolutely no baby food. That was the top priority for our group right now. Making sure that the baby would be able to make it through infancy.

"I'll go with you and I'm sure Maggie and Daryl will help too. We need to check a weapons store, and food supply stores. That food we have in there will last us a couple of weeks but I'm sure it will go fast. And baby powder, the baby won't make it very long without any. I'm sure there's a daycare around somewhere. Maybe I can find a Yellow Pages? See if I can find any nurseries around here?" I asked.

Rick nodded to me gratefully and ran a hand through his hair. I could tell that the poor guy was absolutely exhausted. "The sooner the better. And thank you Rain, you're right. The baby won't survive more than a few hours without it. Maybe you and Daryl could make that run?" He asked me. I nodded and he mumbled a small thank you before walking away. I followed in his footsteps and made my way over to Daryl, who was giving the bike a good wash.

I laughed and walked up to him, grabbing a washcloth and beginning to help him with cleaning the bike. I smiled at him and prodded his arm. "You know, I think you would make a good dad. You treat that thing better than most parents treat their kinds," I told him, nudging him. He smiled at me and gave a small snort.

"Yeah, well it doesn't talk back. A lot less of a pain in my ass than you." I laughed but punched him, throwing the wet cloth onto him. I grunted and he laughed, pulling it off of his face, shining the front of the bike. I had been washing off the bike for a few minutes when I saw a small engraving in the side of the bike. However, it wasn't an actual engraving. It looked like they had done it with a knife. Looking a little closer, I saw that it was a name. "Merle Dixon" it read. I smiled at the bike an snorted. Naturally Merle would do that, ward off any unwelcome visitors for his bike. The is thing must have meant more than anything to Merle.

I turned around to get more water on the rag when I saw that Hershel had actually gotten pretty far on his own. Lori and Beth were still standing off to his sides just in case though. "I got you here if you need it. Just take your time on these steps," she told him. Of course though, he was going to manage to do it on his own.

Hershel was tilting slightly toward Carl who whooped when Hershel caught himself. Hershel took a look around and saw the yard and gave an approving nod. "You cleared all those bodies out? It's starting to look like a place we could really live in," he told Rick. I nodded my agreement. The place was almost cozy. Well if you counted a fenced in, dark, barred prison as it cozy it is. But still, it kept us safe, and we were building a life here. Our family was all here. We were home.

Hershel stumbled a bit and Rick walked over to him. "Hey, you watch your step. Last thing we need is you falling," Rick cautioned the older man who merely waved our leader off.

Daryl laughed lowly next to me and stood up, myself following suit. "Looky here. He is one tough son of a bitch," Daryl called out. I laughed and Hershel gave a small smile. I gave him an adoring look, I loved it when Daryl interacted with the group like that. They might never know it but Daryl was actually a huge goofball, I'd learned that in our late night talks.

Glenn looked up from his work and laughed at Daryl's comment. "All right, Hershel!" He cried out. I laughed at his enthusiasm but grimaced when I realized how loud his yell had actually been. Even though we were fenced in, we didn't want to risk drawing more walkers over to the prison. We wanted to keep as low of a profile as we could.

It seemed that Rick was thinking the same thing as he glared at the young Asian man. "Shh! Keep your cheers down," Rick hissed at me. I saw the heartbroken look on Glenn's face and I walked over to him placing my hands on his shoulder. He looked at me with a sad smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, man. Can't we just have one good day?" He asked me.

I sighed and squeezed his shoulders. "He's just stressed out Glenn. He's got the prison to worry about, getting rid of the prisoners, the walkers, getting this place ready, and on top of all that he has a pregnant wife. And if you hadn't noticed, things aren't exactly going very well between the two of them."

He nodded at me and let out a long breath. "I know that Rain, but still. Couldn't he just let us have a little fun?" He asked me. I had no answer so I just stood there while Glenn walked away. I sighed and turned around to see Carl standing besides me. I smiled at him and he gave me a smile back. At least he was doing better than his mom and dad.

We turned around to where Beth was standing beside her father. "You're doing great, Daddy," Beth told him to which the older man smiled. She was right, he was making amazing progress for having just gotten up earlier today. It wasn't exactly very easy learning how to live on one leg.

Carl watched the older man figure out how to walk arund and he smirked at him. "Ready to race, Hershel?" He called out. I smiled at the challenge, pulling Carl into my side, giving him a side hug to which he gave me a small hug back.

Hershel smirked back the young boy. "Give me another day. I'll take you on," he told Carl. Both myself and Carl laughed as we turned back to the rest of the group. I looked around and noticed that there was even a small smile on Rick's face. I knew that he still had some happiness in there, he wasn't completely gone.

Rick turned back around and grabbed the shoulders of a dead walker by his feet. "Grab the rest of the bodies," he told the rest of us while still attempting to control his laughs. I turned looking for a body when I heard a small snarl. I turned to yell at Daryl for trying to scare me and I saw it. "Walkers!" Rick yelled at the smae time I had been about to. "Look out!" He yelled facing me, and I ducked out of the way just in time to avoid a walker. Pulling out my knife I drove it into the walkers skull and grabbed Carl by the hand pulling him with me. "No!" I heard Rick yell and I risked a glance to see what was happening. There were walkers everywhere, and the growling was so loud that I could hardly hear the screams of anyone around us. There were guns firing left, right, and center, so I moved into an open space, hoping that by being there no one would mistake us for walkers. "Get out! Get out of there! No! Lori!" I could still hear Rick yelling. Lori had been dangerously close to being bit, but luckily Maggie had come to her rescue at the last moment, pulling her towards Carl and I.

I watched them hit a gate, and I fired round after round, alongside Carl, at the walkers to try to get to the cage that Maggie and Lori were going into. "Carl! Rain! Come in here!" She screamed to us. I started to make a mad dash to the cage, but three walkers cut us off. With no more ammo and no time to put in the other magazine, I took my knife to the first one's forehead while Carl shot the other two. Turning back once more I saw Beth and Hershel manage to lock themselves in a cage and watch the carnage.

"That gate is open!" Rick screamed, pointing to the gate that had been preventing walkers from getting into the concrete patio. How the hell had someone gotten that off? Someone had to have somehow gotten in there and cut the wires.

I stood staring for a moment praying that I would be able to find Daryl but I had no such luck, until I finally heard his voice call out. "Come on, come on! Rain!" I smiled at the knowledge that he was still alive and I waved out to him, screaming his name. I could tell that he was trying to find me but there was too much chaos, he would never be able to see me with all this going on. I sighed and turned back to the fence, running to it and managing to make it into the gate with Carl. I grabbed onto Maggie and slammed the door closed, with Lori clinging onto her son behind us.

I jumped as an alarm went off, and walkers hit the cage at all sides. I grabbed Maggie's arm and dragged her through the cage, pushing Lori and Carl ahead of us. With my bow drawn, I held in, nocked and ready, waiting to see if any walkers were on the inside. I took the lead, with Maggie ahead of me and we started through the hallway. I heard Lori grunt and her footsteps slowed before I turned around to see if she was OK. "Can you keep up?" Maggie asked her.

Lori was now bent over, and I felt my heart race go up as I prayed that I wasn't right about what I thought was about to happen. She stood for a moment before looking at Maggie and I. "Something's not right," she told us while clutching her stomach. Oh God, please not now. Anytime, but not right now.

Carl stared at his mother and grabbed her arms. "Are you bit?" He asked.

She took her arms away and went back to holding her stomach. She grunted and squeezed her eyes shut. "No, no, no. I think the baby's coming," she moaned. Oh my God, no way.

"Lori are you sure?" I asked her. She nodded and let out a small scream to which I grimaced. I knew that if there were any walkers around, we had just alerted them to where we were.

"Mom?" Carl asked, and it was just then that I heard the snarling of the walkers. Damn it! We took off running and headed in the other direction from the snarling.

We had made it a few yards when Lori bent over. It was obvious that she couldn't go very much longer. She would have to stop soon. I ran over to her and pulled on her arms, trying to get her to move. "No, there's no time!" Maggie yelled as she finally got Lori to move. The snarling of the walkers was getting closer and closer with every step and I knew that they must have been almost right behind us. I turned around to fight when I heard Maggie yell and she pulled me to a stop. "In here!" Lori was grunting and couching behind us so I was thankful that we could get a place to stop. Hopefully a safe one. We ran inside the room and I quickly threw the door, bolting it. "Okay," Maggie sighed breathing heavily.

I leaned back on the door, trying to ignore the alarms and calm my breathing down. I was almost back to normal when a bang on the door from the walkers nearly gave me a heart attack. Lori was leaning back against a pipe, breathing in and out heavily. She looked up at the ceiling and asked, "what are those alarms?"

"Don't worry about it," Maggie told her.

Carl looked around for a while and held his gun out, ready to shoot in case the walkers broke through. But there was no way, those doors were bulletproof. This was a prison for a reason after all. "What if it attracts them?" He asked. I hated to think it but that was probably why someone had set them off in the first place.

Lori was staring to pant a little too much for my comfort and it seemed that Maggie felt the same way. "Lori, let's lay you down," she told the older woman. I walked over to help Lori lay down on the cold stone floor. Considering that she was burning up, the cold floors probably felt great to her.

Lori tried to fight us but I knew that she was far too weak to fight off either one of us. "No, the baby's coming now. We have to get back to our cell block to have Hershel help," Lori tried to reason.

I was about to tell Lori that we couldn't risk it out there. That we could get lost, or she could go into labor right out there, or we could get surrounded but Maggie beat me to it. "We can't risk getting caught out there. You're gonna need to give birth to this baby here," she told Lori and I nodded. It wasn't worth the risk to try to make it back to our cell block right now.

"Great," Lori panted as she settled into the floor.

Her panting got heavier and Carl ran over, running between myself and Maggie. "What is she doing? Can't she breathe?" He asked us in a hurry, clearly worried about his mother.

Maggie pushed him back and she leaned down by Lori's hips. "She's fine. Come here, let's get your pants off." She helped Lori wiggle off her pants. I stood to the side dumbfounded. I had never planned on having children so I had never really paid any attention to the sex ed classes in school, I ignored people talking about their children, and I hadn't been in the room when my sister had been born. I'd never even seen a birth on TV.

"Okay. Okay," Lori tried to assure herself. I could tell that she was in a lot of pain from the winces that were crossing her face.

Maggie turned to Carl and pulled him up besides her. "You're gonna need to help deliver your brother or sister. You up for it?" She asked Carl. Not really having a choice, he nodded with a scared look on his face.

Lori looked surprised as she glanced at Maggie. "Do you know how?" She asked.

Maggie let out a grunt as she sat in front of Lori feet, spreading her legs a little bit. "Dad taught me, but trust me, it's my first time." I could see the confused look on Maggie's face and I knew that something was wrong. "I can't tell," Maggie said, coming back up to look at Lori. Oh yeah, I was getting a really bad feeling about this.

Lori nodded at Maggie and took a few deep breaths. "I gotta push," Lori told Maggie who just nodded in response with a small OK. "I gotta push," Lori repeated as she pushed. She grunted and made small sounds of effort as she pushed but it seemed like no matter how much she pushed, we were getting nowhere in the labor process.

"Somebody!" Maggie screamed out, startling me from Lori's body. It didn't matter how loud Maggie screamed though, no one was on this side of the prison and they most likely wouldn't be for a while. Until they were able to get a search party together, and I had no idea who had even made it besides us, Beth, and Hershel.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. I'm okay," Lori tried to console Maggie.

Maggie nodded and stared at Lori as she tried to push as hard as she could. "You're doing great, Lori. Just keep doing it. Your body knows what to do. Let it do all the work." I watched for a moment and winced when Lori gave a small yelp of pain. Yeah, this whole thing had to hurt like a bitch. "You're doing great. Lori, don't push- stop. Something's wrong." I looked up and went to Lori's feet. I saw that there was a lot of blood. More than I thought was supposed to come out.

Carl shook his mom as her eyes started to roll into the back of her skull. She was losing too much blood too fast. "Mom? Mom, look at me, look at me. Keep your eyes open. We have to get you back to Dad," Carl told his mother. I could hear his voice breaking and my heart broke for him. He knew what was happening and so did I. One of them wasn't going to make it and Lori was going to make sure it was her baby.

Lori confirmed my thought when she opened her eyes and looked up at her son with a tiny smile. "I'm not gonna make it," she told him and I felt my heart shatter in two. Rick needed to be here.

"Lori, with all this blood, I don't even think you're fully dilated yet. No amount of pushing is gonna help," Maggie told her.

Lori nodded and I could tell that she was coming to terms with what was about to happen. She nodded and coughed. "I know what it means, and I'm not losing my baby. You've gotta cut me open," she told Maggie. I looked at Maggie and saw the fear in her eyes. She didn't want to be the one to have to do that.

"No. I can't," Maggie cried.

Lori looked at her and shook her head grabbing Maggie's hands. "You don't have a choice," Lori told her. She was right, it wasn't Maggie's choice whether or not to save Lori. It was her own and she had made the decision. And that was to save the baby. That would be our last grant of Lori's wishes.

Maggie shook her head and started to get up. "I'll go for help."

"No!" Lori cried, grabbing Maggie's arm and pulled her back down to the floor.

Maggie sighed and stared at Lori. "Look, Carol is the one that practiced that. Dad only taught me the steps, Lori. If I-" Maggie tried to argue, but Lori cut her off.

Lori began to cry while looking at Maggie and I felt the tears rise to my own eyes. "Please," Lori begged. I could see Maggie's resolve start to die but I knew that she was going to try a little longer to not get Lori to give up.

"I have no anesthetic, no equipment-" Maggie tried, but once more Lori cut her off.

Lori shook her head and motioned to Carl's waistline. "Carl has a knife. So does Rain. Use hers. It's sharper. Actually, Rain, will you do it?" I stared in utter shock. What the hell did she ask me? I didn't know how to deliver a damn baby. I started to stutter but Lori cut me off. "Rain, you have the hunting experience. You know how to skin animals and you know where the vital organs are. You know how to do this Rain. You are a hunter, you know how to gut the animals," Lori told me.

"Animals Lori! You are a human. I have less experience than Maggie! You won't survive. There's no way. I can't do it, I won't do it," I told her. I hated to do it, but I didn't want to be responsible for the death of Lori.

She looked at me and grabbed my hand. "Have Maggie stand over you and instruct you on what to do. My baby has to survive. Please. My baby for all of us. Please, Rain! Please!" Lori took a few gasps and I patted her on the chest. "Please," she begged. I stared at her for a moment before nodding. "You see my old C-section scar?" Lori asked. I looked and say the long scar on her stomach.

Oh God, what if I do it and I cut into the baby? "I can't," I somehow managed to rasp out. I was way too afraid to do this. What if I ended up killing both of them? Then Lori will have died for nothing.

Lori shook her head and grabbed my hands. "You can. You have to," I nodded to her. It was her last wish and I had to respect that she knew that there was no way she would survive this. "Carl? Baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay? This is what I want. This is right. Now you- you take care of your daddy for me, all right? And your little brother or sister, you take care-" She stared before being interrupted by Carl.

"You don't have to do this," he told her. I looked over and I saw that the boy was on the verge of tears. Watching the exchange between the two of them, I felt my eyes start to water too but I blinked the tears back. I needed to be able to see to do the operation.

Lori smiled at her son and pulled him down next to her. "You're gonna be fine. You are gonna beat this world. I know you will. You are smart, and you are strong, and you are so brave, and I love you."

"I love you too," he choked out.

Lori looked at her son and put her hand on the side of his face. "You gotta do what's right, baby. You promise me, you'll always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So don't- so if it feels wrong, don't do it, all right? If it feels easy don't do it. Don't let the world spoil you. You're so good. You're my sweet boy. The best thing I ever did. I love you. I love you. You're my sweet, sweet boy. I love you. Okay- okay, now. Okay." Lori was by now full out crying, saying her final goodbye to her son. "Rain, when this is over, you're gonna have to-" Lori started before I cut her off.

"Shh-" I hushed her. I knew that we would have to shoot her in the head to prevent her from coming back. When she went from this life, I wanted her to go for good. Never have to stay here in the shell of what she had once been.

She looked at me and took my hand. "You have to do it. It can't be Rick. All right all right. It's all right. It's all right. Whew, whew Good night, love," she told me before closing her eyes. I knew at that point, she was ready.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my knife. I clicked it open and held it at the base of Lori's stomach, right on top of the scar. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Lori. I didn't want this to happen. I'll watch after Rick and Carl," I promised her. I saw the smile on her face and I knew that now she would die content. Knowing that people were there to watch after her family for her. I dug the knife in, not even an inch and Lori let out an Earth shattering scream. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut, but I forced myself to keep them open, I had to pay attention to what I was doing. Her screams stopped and Carl nearly threw himself on top of me.

"What are you doing to her?" He asked me. I ignored him and felt Lori shudder, then stop. With that, I knew that she had passed on. I panicked and started to move the knife faster. I didn't want Lori to come back while I was still doing the procedure.

When I had finally finished the cut, I let Maggie take over, while I pulled the skin apart slightly. I looked down and saw that I was completely drenched in blood. Lori's blood. "Okay, come on I see it. I see the ears," Maggie told me while she grabbed one of the appendages. "I'm gonna pull it out. I can't tell if this is the arm or the leg," she said taking a long look at the infant.

"Pull the baby out. Doesn't matter, we'll figure it out when we get it out," I told her. I was still panicking that Lori wouldn't come back, but was still trying to be careful so we didn't accidentally kill the baby. I reached into her stomach and felt what I thought was the torso. I wrapped my hand around it and looked at Maggie. "Okay," I told her before giving it a big yank. The baby pulled free and a disgusting squelching sound came out, along with a lot of blood. If I hadn't been drenched in blood before, I sure was now. Carl gasped at the sight of his new sister from the looks at it, who was crying, thank God. We would have to get her to Hershel to see if she was actually OK. I handed the baby to Maggie, who wrapped her up and stood up, myself following suit. "We have to go," I told the two of them.

Carl stood there and I was about to tell him that he had to go when he motioned to his mother. "We can't just leave her here. She'll turn," Carl said. I looked at her and knew that we had to do it. I raised my knife and went over to Lori's corpse.

I had only taken a few steps when I was stopped by Carl. "No," he told me.

"Carl-" I started, before he cut me off.

He looked at me and shook his head. "She's my mom," he told me, tears running down his face, and Maggie sobbing behind us. "No more kids' stuff. People are gonna die. I'm gonna die. Mom. There's no way you can ever be ready for it," he told me. He pulled out his gun and I nodded. I walked over to the corner and stood with Maggie. I held her to me, being mindful of the baby when I turned back. Carl was standing over his mother, and even when I knew he was going to pull the trigger, it still surprised me. The gunshot seemed louder than it normally was and now, I finally let my tears fall. As Carl walked up to us, I opened the door and listened to Carl shoot the walkers that still remained. With my body on autopilot, I walked out to the yard, with the tunnels seeming to close in, and the world felt like it was spinning. We had finally made it to the door that led outside, and I could hear our group talking right outside them.

I heard Rick's voice first and my sobs came even harder. "We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with-" I heard as I opened the door. Oh thank God, at least Daryl was alive. I walked out first, I had been a few feet ahead of Maggie and Carl. I saw the look of utter shock on my group member's face when I walked out into light, probably looking like one of the walkers.

"Oh my God. Rain. What the hell happened to you?" Daryl asked me as he and Rick started to approach me. My tears were now unstoppable as Rick came within a few feet of me. It wasn't even a heartbeat later, when Maggie and Carl walked out of the tunnels. I heard the baby crying and I looked Rick dead in the eyes. I knew that he was putting two and two together and he had figured out that his wife was no longer with us.

His eyes started to water as he looked at me. "Where- where is she? Where is she?" He asked me as the first tear started to fall. I shook my head and he burst into tears, and went to run past me.

"No Rick, no!" I called after him, trying to grab onto him, but he ripped his arm from me.

He walked over to Carl and bent down beside his son. "Oh, no. No! No! No!" With all of the energy gone from him, he dropped to his knees, falling to the ground and crying. I dropped down and Daryl pulled me into him. The silence was deafening, the only cries being Rick and the baby's cries, reminding us all of what had just happened. I staggered to my feet with the help of Daryl, and I watched as Rick picked up and axe, running into the area we had just come out of. I knew what he was doing, he was going to go take his anger out on the walkers. I let myself fall to my knees as my vision faded out. Daryl caught me before I fell and dragged my limp body into the cell block. I could have been attacked by walkers as this point and I wouldn't have cared. I had done it. I had killed Lori. She was dead and it was my fault. Me. Rick was devastated because of me. I felt myself being thrown down and I registered that I had dropped onto the cot that we shared.

I let my head fall into my hands, and I tensed when I felt Daryl's arms wrap around me. "Shh Rain. It'll be OK. You didn't do anything. It wasn't you," he tried to console me.

I didn't know what had come over me, but I let my sadness over Lori turn into anger, and I was about to turn it on Daryl. "What the hell do you know?!" I shrieked at him. I immediately felt a twinge of guilt when I saw the look on his face, but I shook it off. The anger was coming out and I couldn't stop it now. "It was my fault! Lori's death was my fault!" Daryl tried to ask me what had happened, but I cut him off. I knew what he wanted to know. "We were running through the tunnels. We were doing OK, looking for a way away from the walkers when all of a sudden Lori bent over. She was going into labor, so we ran into a boiler room. She was pushing and everything was going fine until she started bleeding. Real bad too. Maggie told her to stop pushing and after a while Lori knew that she would have to have a C section. She knew she wouldn't survive. Maggie was gonna do it but Lori stopped her. Told me to do it. I had more experience skinning and gutting an animal. I did it, and I tried to keep her alive Daryl, I tried. But I couldn't. She died. And we got the baby. But Carl- He- he had to shoot his own mother. He didn't want her to come back as a walker. I was gonna do it, but he said that it had to be him. She told me to do it but still. I killed her Daryl. I killed Lori!" I shrieked the last part at him, angry for everything, even though I knew that he hadn't done anything. I was no longer crying, and my normal vision had returned, but it felt like there was nothing left in me.

Daryl sighed and pulled me into him. I knew that he was trying to process what I had just told him, since he was silent. After a few minutes, he pushed me forward and grabbed my hands. "Rain, what happened to Lori wasn't your fault. She wanted it Rain. She wanted her baby to live, and she knew that she had to die in order for that to happen." I shook my head at him and dropped my face. He quickly grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "Do you know why she asked you to do it, and not Maggie? Really why she asked you?" I shook my head at him, my curiosity now piqued. "Because she knew that you were strong. Maggie is strong too, but not like you. You've been through so much. You've seen so much that no person has ever had to see, and you've come back from it all. Lori knew that. Rain, it wasn't a secret that when you joined us, you didn't trust us and that you didn't like us. We all knew that. But somehow, you let yourself in to us. And we all grew to love you. We saw that you were more than the tough girl with a rough childhood. That you were a kind, loving, amazing woman. That was why Lori picked you. That's why I love you."

I stared blankly at Daryl for a moment before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss. He had just said one of the hardest things for him to say. "I love you too," I told him attempting at a smile. I sighed though, I should tell him. He should know why I was so scared of being in this prison. "You asked what was wrong with me when I saw Axel. Do you still want to know?" I asked him. He nodded his head and dropped my hands. I sighed and crossed my legs. This was gonna be a long story.

I had been about to start my story when Daryl cut me off. "Rain, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Not today at least." I smiled at him but shook my head.

"No Daryl, I need to tell you this. It's only fair that you know absolutely everything important about me that there is to know. And this is important." He nodded and I took a few deep breaths preparing myself to tell a story that I had never told anyone. "I knew Axel once. A long time ago. When I was 16 I met him. Not for a long time, but I briefly knew him." Daryl nodded and I sighed, I had started the story and now I had to finish it. "Anyways, I told you that I left the house when I was 14 right?" I asked him. He nodded at me. "Well, my uncle actually let me stay with him. Not that he really took care of me, it was just a place to go. But he told me when I first moved in that I could stay until I was 16. And that's what I did. The day after my 16th birthday, true to his word, my uncle kicked me out. I had hoped that he would let me stay, but I knew that he wouldn't. So I left, with no place to go. I had been working, so I saved up enough for a cheap, sleazy hotel. Stayed there for a few weeks but I was running out of money, so I was forced to leave. My first night out on the streets I was walking down some barely lit road. Huge guy came walking down from the other side. I was terrified but I wasn't gonna let him see that, so I stood tall and kept walking. Although at 16, I was barely 5 feet. Guy knew I would be no match so he walked over to me. Tried a few times to get me to talk, but I stayed silent. I was just looking for a place to duck inside but everywhere was closed. Guy figured I had something on me so he jumped me. I tried to fight him off but he was winning. He had a gun, I had no choice. I pulled out my pocket knife, and I stabbed. I tried to get him somewhere non vital, so I hit him in the leg. He fell off of me and I went to run, but I saw all of the blood. More than there should have been. I realized it then, I had hit his femoral artery," I told Daryl.

He was still silent, so I took that as a sign that I could continue. "Anyways, the guy freaked out. He was crying and screaming. Didn't take long for the cops to come. Four of 'em came, surrounded us. He was putting on a real show for them, screaming and crying that I had a knife, I was some delinquent that had attacked him. With a knife in my hand and blood all over me it was an easy story for them to buy. Wasn't a minute after that that he went into some sort of shock and died right there. They tried, believe me they tried to save him but they couldn't. He had lost too much blood and he wasn't coming back. They grabbed me by the shoulders. I tried to tell them that I was just a homeless kid and that he had jumped me but they didn't buy that story. I got thrown in the back of the cop car and brought into custody. The next morning, I was brought to the county jail. It still wasn't real to me though, I had killed a man. It may have been in self-defense and an accident, but still. I was a murderer now." I stopped my story and looked over to gauge a reaction from Daryl.

He was staring at his hands intently. He was obviously trying to process the entire story. It was a lot of information to take in, and there was about to be a lot more. "Anyways, I spent three months there until they finally cleared the crime as self-defense. It wasn't too bad just to be there in prison, it was a place to stay, but the shit that happened to me there was fucked up. I hadn't even been there a few days before the looks started, from all of the male prisoners. It wasn't like they got many female inmates, and most of those men hadn't had any in quite a while. I knew what they wanted, so I tried to stay away as best as I could. But I was the young, fresh, meat and most of the female prisoners were either coked out or probably a man."

"It had been a few weeks and I'd done pretty well avoiding the men, but one night, they managed to break into my cell. It wasn't like the guards cared. They got paid and the prisoners weren't trying to break out. Anyways, three men broke into my cell and they grabbed me. Two ripped the uniform off while the other just sat there laughing. He unbuckled his pants and let them drop. I tried to fight them off, but they were fully grown men that were good fighters. There was no way I could get out. The only thing I could say was that I left quite a few nasty scars on them. Anyways, they got my uniform off and threw me down to the ground. Their leader just grabbed me by my hair and pulled me around. He grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me up to him. He asked why I wasn't crying, but I stayed silent. He didn't deserve to hear me beg for mercy, or to see me cry. With no mercy, he just did it. No warning, no nothing. Hurt like hell, and was the most embarrassing ting to ever happen to me. He finished and pulled out. Blood was everywhere. I'll never forget his words to me. 'Don't cry, you're a woman. Take it like one.' They treated me like an animal, passing me between the three of them all night. They didn't leave until the sun was rising. It wasn't the first time that I had ever expected to happen."

I looked at Daryl's face, and I saw everything. Anger, horror, pity, and pure fury. I knew that he was about to crack, but my story wasn't done. "I didn't sleep that night. Just grabbed the uniform, pulled it on with a blanket, and laid in my bed. The guard walked in the next morning and laughed. 'Sounded like you had a fun night.' He saw the blood on the floor and cracked up. Let me out and I tried to walk, but I couldn't. Just fell back down. He brought me my food, and I laid there, all day. Didn't move. Finally at night, the men came back in. It was the same first guy, just with a new sidekick. I tried to fight again that night, but once more I lost. It became a nightly thing, and after a while, I just stopped fighting. It wasn't worth the beatings. I got into the habit of smoking, cigarettes at first. Every day, all day long. Soon, they weren't enough, I needed something stronger. That was when I turned to the alcohol. I drank every night, and they eventually just became drunk fucks. I was so used to them that they were nothing anymore. I just took them. Not long after that, the marijuana use started, and then the heavier shit. Ecstasy, shrooms, cocaine. It was hard to come by, but the nights in my cell were what paid my debts off. They were coming in anyways so why not get something out of it? It was mostly just to become numb to the whole thing. I couldn't take it, so I wanted a way to pretend that it didn't exist."

Daryl's look broke my heart. I had never seen him look so disappointed in me. Tears rose to my eyes, but I needed to finish the story, I couldn't leave it there. "It went like that for a little over a month before I finally met Axel. He had been transferred into the prison, and I met him right as he moved in. We had the same guard that came to retrieve us, so I met him on his first day there. Turned out he already knew who I was. He came up to me one day asking if I was Rain. I nodded and told him I was, thinking he was gonna try to make an exchange with me, but that wasn't what he wanted. Instead, he asked me if he wanted to stay in his cell. I asked him why and he told me something that I'd never forget. 'You're a beautiful young woman. Don't do this to yourself, you are so much more than this. Don't let these men bring you down to their level. They have nowhere to go in life, you only can go up. And I know that you can. Looking at you I can tell, this isn't you. You only do this to numb the pain. I used to do it too. Stay in my cell tonight, you'll be under protection with me, the guard in my area won't let those men anywhere near you. If you don't like it, you can leave in the morning and never come back. Just give it a shot.' I agreed with him and stayed the night. We stayed up all night and nothing happened. We talked, I told him about my life and he told me about mine. And when we went to bed, it was the first night that I hadn't slept in fear, or coming down from a high. I spent the next few nights there and it quickly became my new home." I stopped my story to take a deep breath.

I wanted to finish it and get to hear what Daryl had to say. By the look on his face, I could tell that it was nothing good. It was now just a blank stare, one that shattered my hopes that he would still love me. "Anyways, that was when the withdrawals started. It was the worst pain that I'd ever felt. Well maybe not all that shit that happened after the farm but you get the point. They were horrible and I just wanted more. I wanted to be high, and I wanted to be numb. Axel was there for me though, he was with me every step of the way. Whenever I was getting weak, he was always there to remind me of why I was giving it up. He was the reason that I quit on the drugs. But anyways, right after I was detoxed, I got the news that the death of the man who mugged me was deemed self-defense. I was free. It was also that day that I learned that Axel was going to be transferred to another Georgia prison. I guess this was it. But anyways, I got out and I stayed at a home for troubled youth until I graduated and saved up enough money to get an apartment. I started college and I got my life together. The only thing was, sex was nothing for me anymore. The special feeling that I was supposed to get the first time was stolen from me, so it's never really meant anything to me. And the alcohol use never stopped either. I drank all the way until the shit hit the fan, I wasn't drunk to the point that I had been in prison, but it was still bad. There are plenty of nights that I don't remember. That was what I wanted, to forget everything. To forget my family, and everything after losing them. I owe Axel a thank you, he saved my life and I never got to thank him."

I stared up at Daryl, hoping that there would be some type of reaction, but I saw nothing. He had a blank stare on his face and was looking down at his hands. My eyes started watering as I realized that he had no idea what to say, and he looked like he wasn't going to say anything for the foreseeable future. "Daryl, please say something. Anything. Scream if you have to, just say something," I pleaded with him. I had to hear his voice, I had to know if he still felt the same way that he had before I had told him all of this.

He looked at me and opened his mouth, however a call came up to us. "Daryl. Rain. The baby needs some type of nourishment and Rick is nowhere to be found right now. I'm sorry to ask, but can you both come down here and give us a hand?" I stared at Daryl, who shook his head, stood up and turned to the staircase.

"We'll be right down," he called to Hershel. Looking back at me, he shook his head again and walked to the edge of the perch to grab his crossbow. I sat in silence for a moment wishing that I had never said anything. He hated me. He hated what I had done and now I was paying for it. He would never speak to me again. He thought I was disgusting. I let my head drop into my arms and silently wished that one of those walkers had gotten me today. I didn't deserve to have these people in my life and I sure as hell didn't deserve to be alive.

A/N: Well... Definitely not the happiest chapter I've ever had. But things will get better! At least now you all know why Axel was so familiar to Rain and why she didn't want him to recognize her. As for Rain, a lot more of her back story has been revealed now and we have some insight as to why she is the way she is. But not to fear, there is still more of Rain's story to be told! Anyways, I had a lot of free time this week so that's why this chapter was out so fast. But anyways, I hope you guys liked the chapter even though it was a lot darker than it normally is. As always, thank you for the follows and favorites from **Kasi Sera Marine, MewMewAnimeFreak**, **Meliara422, texasDalek, khamilton16, MissDamagedGooods, Allmakebelieve** and **mrnoobishdude123**. And of course a huge thank you to my **guest** reviewer! Please review! It makes me happy! -A


	26. Reunited

I watched as Daryl walked off of the perch, and I let my head drop. I had lost him, I cared about everyone in this group, but I had lost the one I cared the most about. The one person that I couldn't lose. I sat, letting the tears run down my face for a few minutes, wallowing in my own self-pity. I heard footsteps clunking on the stairs, and for a moment, I prayed that it was Daryl. However, I could tell by the uneven thumping that it was Hershel on his crutches. I looked up at him and wiped my eyes as he came to stand in front of me. He offered me his hand, and I tugged on it lightly to pull myself up, not knowing how strong, or steady, he was with only one leg. I leaned back against the railing for a minute collecting my thoughts before I turned to him. "I'm sorry, I'll be there in just a second to help with the baby." Hershel nodded to me and I ran my hands through my hair.

Taking a deep breath, I went to go downstairs when Hershel put his arm out to stop me. "Rain, I thought you'd like to know that I heard everything." I gave him an incredulous look and he nodded at me. "Every last word of your story. I didn't mean to, but I have two daughters. I may be old, but I got a lot of practice hearing quiet conversations. Even if I didn't mean to," he told me, giving me an apologetic look. "No one else heard it, I was the only one close enough to hear." I nodded at him, relieved that no one else knew my story. I supposed that if someone had to know besides Daryl, I was glad that it was Hershel. Besides Maggie, he was probably the only other person I trusted with that story. "Rain. Don't hate yourself. Daryl doesn't, and I don't. You did what you did, but that was in the past. Your past does not define your future. I've never seen anything to give me a bad impression of you. You're caring and kind, more than I've ever seen from anyone. You may not see it, but the rest of us do. We love you Rain, every last one of us. Come back to us sweetheart," he told me.

I sat staring at him for a moment, not believing what he had just said, but I actually felt a small smile cross my face. It made me feel slightly better, I knew now that I just had to talk to Daryl. I had to know what he thought of what I'd done. Good or bad, I had to know. It was eating me alive. "Thank you Hershel. That means more to me then you could ever imagine." The old man smiled at me and nudged me towards the staircase. I laughed and walked slowly down, making sure that he was able to keep his balance. We got downstairs and I saw that Daryl was asking the group about our new addition.

"We need to feed her. Is there anything that the baby can eat?" He asked. I shook my head, right now she was too young. The only thing that she would be able to digest is baby formula, and we didn't have any. If we didn't get some soon, the baby would be dead in a matter of hours, it was a race against the clock now.

Hershel pushed lightly past me and went to stand in front of Daryl, keeping his eyes locked on the baby. "The good news is that it looks healthy. But she needs milk. And soon, or not survive." I saw the worried looks cross the group member's face, and I knew that I was sharing the same look. I wasn't a fan of children, but we had not fought this hard, and Lori had not died for this baby to not survive. Something had to be done.

It seemed that Daryl shared my thoughts, as he grabbed his crossbow and turned to the exit of the cell block. "No. No way. Not her. We will not lose anyone else. I will run." I watched him leave, and I stepped in front of him, shouldering my bow and grabbing my arm guard, hoisting them both on as fast as I could.

"I'll cover. I am going," I told him.

He nodded at me and stepped around, turning back to me. He hadn't really looked happy or upset, so I did my best to look like the indifference hadn't affected me. "Well then come on. Losing daylight by the second," he told me and I nodded. It was still only the morning, but runs could take all day, and we were trying to make this one as fast as possible. I knew too, that he said that more for the group, what he really meant was that the baby was growing weaker and weaker by the minute. In less than two hours, the baby girl would likely be dead if we couldn't get her formula.

We were headed to the door when I heard Maggie call out behind us. "There is a Piggly Wiggly in the 85th," she told us. I nodded and went to leave the building when Glenn tugged on my arm.

I looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and he shook his head at me. "No, the babies section was emptied. Lori told me to keep an eye out. I haven't had much luck," he told me. I sighed but nodded at him. We would most likely have more luck trying a nursery, although we had to be prepared for what we would see in there. Most likely nothing good.

Daryl scoffed and shook his head. "Is there a place that hasn't been completely looted?" He asked them. I was glad that he asked, we needed some indication of where to start our hunt. We were fighting against the clock today.

Maggie nodded at us and laid out a map of the county. "We saw signs of a mall north of here," she told us, pointing to the spot on the map. I shook my head, we'd tried those roads before, and none of the cars would fit down those roads. Too much debris. We would have to take the bike and I didn't know if there was enough room on it to keep the supplies that we would find.

"Yes, but there are too many road debris. The car never go that far," Glenn voiced my thoughts and I nodded. I turned to Daryl to see what he wanted to do. After all, he would most likely be the one driving.

He seemed like he knew what he was getting into though as he brushed off Glenn and turned to Hershel. "I'll take my bike, the two of us can fit on that and it should be able to get through those roads." He was right, we had been through those roads before, and though it had barely gotten through, we'd made it. We would just have to be careful maneuvering through the streets.

I nodded and secured my arm brace. "We'll head out now," I told our group before grabbing my sheath and slinging it over my shoulder. I had been about to walk out of the room when Maggie grabbed my arm.

She shook her head at me and tried to pull me back. "No, Rain. After all you've been through. Well, I'll go," she told me. I pushed on her shoulder though and shook my head.

"I want to go. For Lori, I have to," I told Maggie, doing my best to keep a straight face. Lori and I hadn't been the best of friends, but I had felt for the woman. She was pregnant, didn't know who the father was, and her husband practically hated her when she died. She had gone with only the hope that her baby would survive the C section.

Maggie sighed but nodded anyways. I knew that she didn't want me to go, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to stop me. "Alright. Be safe. Both of you," she told me. Bringing me in for a hug, I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. I knew that the blow of losing Lori had taken a huge toll on her, and it would take a while for her to come back to us.

I smiled at her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't worry. We will." Over the winter, Maggie and I had grown to be great friends. We usually went on runs together when Glenn or Daryl were out doing something else, so the two of us frequently got to have our girl talks. There were also plenty of nights back then where we would be on watch throughout the night and we would exchange stories of our old lives or talk about Glenn and Daryl. Clearly, I omitted quite a few parts about my own life. Although, in the group, she probably knew me the best. Well, besides Daryl, Hershel, and Carol. Over the winter, Carol and I had had a few heart to hearts about living with some form of abusive relationships. For me it had been my father, for her it had been her late husband, Ed.

I smiled at the rest of the group and waved a quick goodbye to everyone before heading out the door, Daryl right on my tail. I pushed open the door with my foot and heard Daryl throw it closed behind us. Stepping out into the yard, I gagged slightly at the sight of the walker bodies, and I felt a rush of grief hit me as I realized just how stuck I was. I had killed Lori, and Daryl now hated me because I had been stupid enough to tell him a horrible story about my old life. I sighed and carefully made my way around the bodies, heading towards his bike.

I was only a few feet away when I felt his hand wrap around my wrist and pull me back. I looked up at him to ask what he was doing, but I quickly found myself caught in his blue eyes, at a complete loss for words. I could feel him shaking slightly, and I wondered what he was so nervous about. "I-I'm sorry Rain. I shouldn't have walked out of there without saying anything. I don't hate you, and don't try to deny it, I know that's what you're thinking. You're the most amazing person I've ever met Rain. No one knows me like ya do girl. And it don't seem like anyone knows you the way that I do." I shook my head at him knowing that he was right. He was the only person that knew everything about me. The few other people I had been close to in my life, had only known a few things about me. "Rain, you're the strongest person I've ever seen, no one else would have the guts to tell that story. I know that you're ashamed of it, but I won't judge you for what you did in the past. I judge you for what you're doing now, and you've only ever shown me reasons to love you. You did what you did there because you had to. And when you came out, you didn't know anything else. You did what you had been trained to do in there. What matters is that you came back from it, and now you're the wonderful woman that holds this group together."

I let a small smile cross my face, he didn't hate me. He still loved me. Well, at least I was pretty sure he loved me. I wanted to celebrate, but there was still one thing that was bothering me. "Why did you walk away without saying anything? Without even looking from me?" I asked him. I had to know why he hadn't even tried to console me then.

He seemed to be at a loss for words, as he sat there in silence. He finally took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes. "Ya surprised me girl. Of all the things for you to say, I knew that they wouldn't be good, but I had never expected them to be that bad. I had no time to even process what ya had said before Hershel came upstairs to get us. I thought that it might be better to walk away for a minute and collect my thoughts, rather than let you sit there, watching me in silence. I was wrong for that, and I'm sorry." He stood there, and I saw the remorse in his eyes.

I smiled at him and gave him a hug, thrilled that he didn't think as lowly of me as I had thought. "Apology accepted. And I suppose that wasn't the best way to spring it on you," I told him with a small laugh. He agreed, and leaned down, planting a small kiss on my lips. Smiling into the kiss, I eventually broke it and pushed him towards the bike. "Let's go, the baby doesn't have a lot of time to spare." Daryl nodded at me and slid onto the bike, allowing myself to climb on behind him. We drove out to the gate, and I jumped off, opening the gate and closing it behind us. Luckily there were no walkers that were close to us, so I was able to get in and out in a matter of seconds.

I held tightly onto Daryl's waist as we drove out of the trail that led to the prison, and I smiled at the feel of the breeze in my hair and on my face. As fantastic as it was having a place to call home, I sometimes missed the freedom of being out on the road. The feeling of the wind flying through my hair, and the smell of the leather vest Daryl wore, it was home to me. That was what I had realized over these past few months that we didn't need an actual place to have home. Wherever our group was, that we could all be together. That was home. Where I had Daryl, Maggie, Hershel, Rick, Beth, Carl, Glenn, and Carol. Well no longer Carol. Apparently we had lost her in the attack. It hit me hard, I had lost Carol, Lori, and T-Dog in the attack. Granted, I hadn't been that close to Lori, but her death had taken a major toll on Rick, and we couldn't afford the loss of our leader right now. We needed him. I came back to reality when I noticed a colorful gate on the side of the road. I poked Daryl on the shoulder and he nodded at me, evidently having seen the sign as well.

We turned in and I noticed that it had once been a preschool. Daryl stopped the bike right outside the doors and I hopped off, waiting for him to get off behind me. I grabbed my bow and nocked an arrow, allowing Daryl to come up beside me. "Think we'll find something in there?" I asked him. He stared at me and shook his head.

"I don't know Rain, but if we do, I doubt it's gonna be something you'll like." I gulped hard, and stood in front of the door looking over to Daryl. I stared at him and he nodded. I grabbed the knob and twisted it, throwing the door open. He ran through and immediately rose up his crossbow. I walked in behind him and saw that, at least the main room, was empty. Walking in, I saw that there were a few piles of clothing, most of it looked small enough to fit the new baby. Picking it up, I shuffled through it, and found a few dresses and shirts, and leggings that should all fit her. Putting them by the door, I walked back over and saw that Daryl had found a few boxes of powdered baby formula. "Gonna look for some more. Maybe check the back room?" He asked me. I nodded, trying to keep the room as quiet as possible. Following behind him, he threw the door open and I jumped in. I could tell that there were no adult walkers in the room, but I felt my heart sink when I saw the cribs lined up around the room. I heard a low hissing noise and I braved myself for what I may find. Walking over to a light pink crib in the corner of the room, I steeled my nerves and looked in.

There was a tiny baby in the crib. Well, what had been a baby girl. I could see a perfectly defined bite mark on her abdomen and I cringed at her. Decaying skin, black gums, and blood covering the crib. I pulled out a small hunting knife of mine, and went to end the infants, cruelly short life. However, just before I reached down to the baby, Daryl caught my arm. "Don't. I got it. I found some more formula. Bring it up to the front room?" He asked me. I nodded and picked up the boxes, ready to bring them over to the door. I heard the zip of his crossbow and I swallowed the small amount of bile that had risen in my throat.

Daryl came out a moment later and asked if I was ready to go. I nodded and the two of us made our way to the door. Picking up a few bottles and diaper boxes as we went, I opened the door when I heard a hissing noise. Jumping, I turned back and I saw that it was merely a possum hanging out by the window. "Hello, dinner," Daryl mumbled as he shot the poor thing. I grimaced, the thing looked like a horrible dinner. I think I'd rather take the baby formula.

Daryl held it out to me and I shook my head at him, moving my pack away from him. "I will not put it in my backpack. I think we need to go hunting when we get back," I told him. He nodded his head at me and grabbed some of the supplies, making our way to the bike. I let him get on first, propping the two boxes of diapers we had grabbed between himself and the handlebars. I slid on behind him, awkwardly balancing the formula on one leg, propping it up with my arm, and letting the clothes drape over me. Daryl looked back at me and laughed as he revved the engine. I was sure that I looked ridiculous, but I didn't like being laughed at. I smacked him in the back of the head, and was pretty sure I heard a "bitch" somewhere in his mutterings as we took off. I laughed and let my head drop back, enjoying the warm summer breeze on the ride back to the prison.

As we drove up the yard at the prison, I saw that Oscar was there waiting to open the gates for us. He quickly did so and I called back a thanks. Daryl swung the bike around back and the two of us jumped off the bike, running the supplies inside. We could only hope that we weren't too late. As we ran in, I saw that only Beth, Glenn, and Hershel were in the main room. As we walked up, Daryl unlocked the gate and I dropped everything but a bottle of formula on the table. "Guys, they're back," Glenn called as we walked in. I handed the bottle off to Daryl, who grabbed the baby from Beth and began to feed her. I smiled when I saw how well he took care of her. Rocking her back and forth, supporting the neck, and gazing at her with loving eyes. It was one of the sweetest things I'd ever seen. I had known that Daryl would be an amazing father, and I wasn't wrong.

Staring at Carl as he walked in, I went over to him and took a seat beside him. "Do you have a name yet?" I asked him. He looked at me and gave me a small shrug. He seemed to be trying not to care, but I could tell that he did. It brought me some faith for the boy, at least he hadn't been totally destroyed. He may have lost one family member, but he had gained another.

He shook his head at me and gave his baby sister a quick glance. "No. But I was thinking, maybe Sophia. Or Carol. Andrea. Amy, Jacqui. Patricia." I stared at him for a moment and felt a cold rush over me. The thought was sweet but it still brought back bad memories. We could honor one of our fallen members by naming the baby after them.

With nothing else to say, I stared at him before dumbly mumbling, "Oh."

He shrugged at me and looked back over to his sister. "Lori. I don't know," he told me. I gave him a sad smile. I thought that that was sweet. To name her after her fallen mother. Although I wasn't sure how much he would like that. And judging by the look on Carl's face, I think he knew it too. Though I liked the idea of a name as a memorial, I was pretty sure that the baby girl would end up with an original name. Who knew, maybe at this rate we'd never name her.

I looked over at the baby and saw that Daryl was rocking her, she had finished her bottle by now. "Like that? Huh? Lil' Asskicker. Well? It's a good name right? Lil' Asskicker. Like that? Yeah? You like that, baby? Lil' Asskicker. Yeah." I smiled at Daryl and laughed, along with everyone else. We were all wearing loving smiles on our faces, the tough guy was absolutely in love with the baby girl. I've never exactly liked children, but I love seeing how parents interact with them. And even though he wasn't her father, he treated her just like a father should treat his own daughter.

"Alright guys, I know it's not the best but we did get a possum. Daryl, wanna help me skin it?" He nodded and handed the baby off to Beth who went back to rocking her to sleep. The conversations started softly as everyone went to doing their own thing. With such a small animal, and two people working on it, we quickly got the skin off and pulled out the good meat. I was about to go out and cook the meat when the door to the cell block banged open. I jumped out of my seat but quickly relaxed when I saw that it was only Rick. He was covered in blood, and had a blank face, but other than that he looked OK.

We all stared at him and after a moment of silence, he finally spoke up. "Everybody okay?" He asked the group, who were all staring at him like he was the craziest person we'd ever met.

Hershel made his way through the group though and stood in front of Rick. "Yeah, we are. What about you?" He asked our leader.

Rick shrugged his shoulders and motioned back to where he had come from with his head. "I cleared out the boiler block," he told us. Oh my God, he had seen Lori. Why would he have gone back there? Maybe if we were lucky he hadn't found her. I didn't want him to see the mess that I had made of his wife.

"How many were there?" Hershel asked him.

Once more Rick shrugged his shoulders before leaning in to Hershel slightly. "I don't know. A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl," he said. I glared at him, knowing that not once since he had walked in had he looked at Carl. It seemed that Carl felt the same way as he gave his father an odd look.

As Rick went to head back into the boiler area, Hershel stepped in front of him, trying to get our leader to take a break. He couldn't keep going like this. "Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to," he told Rick.

Rick shook his head and let out a humorless laugh. "No, I do. Everyone have a gun and a knife?" He asked, looking over a few of the group members. I noticed that his eyes lingered on my knife for a little while longer and I felt my eyes drop. He knew that I had killed her, and he was blaming me for it.

"Yeah," Hershel told Rick, who was nodding.

Glenn stepped towards the two men and looked at Rick. "We're running low on ammo, though. Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula," he told Rick. I nodded at the plan and thought that I would try to redeem myself in that moment.

I walked over to the men and looked over at Glenn. "Hey, you guys mind if I tag along? I thought that I might be able to help, and well. I feel like I'm in a debt to Lori. I need to help her child," I told them and I saw that Rick gave me a small nod. However, I knew that he didn't really care. He was still upset with me, and always would be.

Glenn nodded at me but I saw the disappointment in his eyes. "Rain, you're not. But if you want to help, that'd be great. We'll be leaving around 3. Can you be ready by then?" He asked me.

I nodded at him and swung my bow around my shoulders. It was only about noon now. I could go hunting for a while and then be back for the trip out into town. "Sure thing. Daryl and I are gonna go hunting first, so after we get back I'll get ready to leave. Trip shouldn't take too long, the game is out again." Glenn nodded at me and looked back over to Rick.

"We cleared out the generator room. Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well," Glenn told him. "And Rain, before you and Daryl go out, can you both help Carl and Oscar do a quick check on the lower levels of the prison. Gotta clear it of any walkers or other threats." I nodded and walked back over to finish up the possum, wanting to get it out of the way as soon as I could.

Rick nodded and paced for a moment. "Good, good," he sighed before turning back to return to the prison.

"Rick," I called trying to catch his arm to get him to stay with us, but he got away from me first. He pulled away from me and ran off into the boiler area, with no one bothering to run after him. I sighed but I knew that there was nothing more that I could do. I sat down at the table and went back to my work on the possum before Maggie sat down next to me, taking my knife.

She pushed Daryl and I away from the table and we both gave her odd looks. "Go you two. I got this. Clear out the lower levels and then go on your hunt. I got nothing better to do so I figured I'd let you do this. That way y'all can get back earlier, and we can head into town earlier," she told us. We both nodded at her and gave her a small thanks before walking over to where Carl and Oscar were standing.

"Alright guys, you ready to go?" I asked the two men. Both nodded to me and I gave a small nod back. "Then let's go," I said before walking out of the cell block and into the lower levels of the prison. I stayed back with Daryl, waiting for him to lock the door and join up with us again. We slowly made our way through the halls and I couldn't help but remember what had happened the last time that I was in these halls. I shook my head clear of those thoughts. I couldn't afford to be thinking of that right now. Walking a little farther down the hall, I saw the littering of bodies along the walls and covering the floor. I scowled at the once-walkers knowing that it had been Rick to put them down. He must have ran into a lot more than he had told us about.

I heard the distinctive hiss of a walker and I turned with my bow raised, but I saw nothing. Daryl walked over to e and pointed to what I had heard with his knife. It seemed that it was just a few walkers that hadn't been properly put down. Rick must have missed them as he had seemed to be in a drunken stupor-like state. "Must have missed it last night," I mumbled as we carefully stepped over the bodies that were fighting to reach us. I kept my distance from all of the bodies, having learned my lesson from what happened to Hershel.

I was panicking slightly, not being able to tell which walkers were still alive. Daryl must have sensed this as he put his arm onto my shoulder. "It's probably just one or two of 'em. Don't look they got much fight. They ain't going nowhere. We'll take care of it on the way back. Come on," he told me, pushing my back slightly. I took a few more steps forward, and finally left the maze of walker bodies. We all made our way back into a line formation and I let a small smile cross my face. We looked like a rag tag team of kick ass heroes.

I was imagining us, saving the world from the dead and being able to live happily ever after with each member of the group, and bring back the ones we had lost, when Daryl's voice brought me back to reality. I looked over, thinking that he was talking to me, but it turned out that he was talking to Carl. "You know, my mom, she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims." I smiled, that was what Daryl smoked on occasion. Like mother, like son. "I was playing out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know, hoping to see something worth seeing. I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me. Hell, I saw everybody looking at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed burnt down to nothing." Oh my God, he had never told me that. He had always made it seem like his parents had gotten a divorce and he had just been stuck with his father. "That was the hard part. You know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way. I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?" He asked Carl. I sighed, knowing that I would end up asking him about this later, when we were on our hunting trip. I wanted to know why he had never told me.

Carl nodded to Daryl and kept on walking. After a beat of silence, he finally looked up at Daryl. "I shot my mom. Rain tried to but it had to be me. She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real," he told Daryl. I had told him what had happened, but hearing it from Carl must have been so much different. Daryl was good at concealing his emotions, but still I saw the surprise and sorrow cross his face. I grimaced at Carl's blunt honesty at the while situation. It was making things ten times worse that Carl seemed to be hardly affected by the loss of his mother. This world was making him too cold.

After another beat of silence, Daryl finally spoke up and looked at Carl. "Sorry about your mom," he told the young boy.

Carl looked up at Daryl and nodded to him. "I'm sorry about yours," he responded. I was glad that the two at least had somewhat similar upbringings. I wondered if Oscar would say anything about his own, but when I looked over to the black man, his head was hung and he was glaring at the ground. I knew that he was going to stay silent on this matter.

I felt like these two had shared their childhoods with each other, so maybe I should say my own. After all, they say releasing pent up anger is good for the body. "Hey Carl. I understand having to grow up too early. I did too. My parents were great to me when I was younger, just like yours, but then my younger sister came along. My mom started to ignore me and my dad... Well my younger sister was the light of his life. I had always liked boy things too much for him. Anyways, he treated her like a princess, and me like his slave. He would drink his heart out, and come home and take out all of his anger from the day on me. They were never too bad, just a slap or small kick. But then my mom died. I was fighting with her about something, and then she went out to the store. Got in a crash on the way. My father always said that she wasn't paying attention because of me, and that caused her to crash. I was the reason she died. Anyways, the beatings got worse. He sent me to the hospital a few times. When I was 14, I moved out and lived with my uncle for two years. After that, I got in some serious trouble and got in with the wrong crowd. I got my act together a few years later, but it wasn't until I met you all that my life really came together. I understand having to grow up too soon. It's not fair. But then again, neither is life," I told him. I didn't want to scare him, but that was just the way that it was. Life wasn't fair. It was also in that moment that I realized that the three of us, no longer had a mother in our lives.

Carl came up beside me and grabbed my hand. I looked over at the young boy, realizing that he was actually now eye-to-eye with me. I hadn't realized that before. "I'm sorry that you were forced to grow up too early too, Rain," he told me.

I laughed and shook my head at him. "No Carl, what I got was just a shitty hand in the game of life. I made the decisions that caused me to have to grow up too early. My father, I had nothing to do with that. But what happened after, that was my fault. As for you though, that's unfair. You never deserved any of this. You had a family that loved you. Mine never really wanted me, they only wanted me until something better came along. And that was what they got." I huffed and stormed ahead. I knew that I had no reason to be mad, I had told the story on my own free will, but talking about my family and my past always seemed to make me boil. I hated them. They were supposed to be my protectors, and they were supposed to care for me. But when something better came along, they dropped me like I was the plague. It was like some twisted version of Harry Potter and the Dursley's. I turned the corner that led us back to the cell block and I stomped up the stairs to the perch. Dropping down on the mattress at the top, I let my head fall onto my knees. I wanted to have Lori back, I wanted Rick to be in the right state of mind, I wanted Carol and T to have survived the attack. I wanted a family that loved me. Just like that I shook my head and snapped myself out of it. Those people that I was blood related to, they were guardians, and horrible ones at that. These people that I was with now, they were my family. We may have lost some of them along the way, but they would always live on inside of us.

Sighing, I looked up and noticed that Daryl was standing in front of me. He offered me his hand and I used it to pull myself up. He let his hand rest on my hip and I gave him a small smile. "Do you wanna go hunting?" He asked me. I nodded and grabbed my hunting knife walking ahead of him, and down the stairs. We were about to walk out when Hershel called out to us. "We're goin hunting Hershel! We'll get her back before three," he told the old man. He gave us a quick good luck and be safe and just like that we were off. As we made it down to the yard, I noticed something small and white out of the corner of my eyes. It was a white flower. A Cherokee Rose that was growing over by the graves. I smiled and poked Daryl's arm. He looked over at it and nodded.

We made our way over to the small patch and I plucked the delicate flower, handing it off to Daryl. Turning back, we stood in front of Carol's grave and placed the small flower over it. "Rest in peace, Carol. Be with Sophia. We love you, and we'll fight on for you," I mumbled to her grave and Daryl wrapped his arm around me. I smiled at him and pulled off my bow, heading out to the fence where Axel was currently patrolling. "Thanks," I told Axel as we walked out of the gate. I nodded my head to the south and Daryl agreed.

Carefully stepping around the plants that had the thorns on them I managed to nock an arrow, ready for the first thing that moved in front of me. I smiled slightly as I heard the crack of a branch not far from me. Raising my arrow, I realized that Daryl had heard it too as his arrow was also aimed at the sky. "Competition Dixon?" He gave me a nasty smirk and nodded. "Stakes?" I asked him, still straining my ears for the animal.

He seemed to think about it for a moment before giving me a greasy smile. "Whoever gets the most animals while we're out," he told me. I had figured that that would be the bet so I nodded at him. "Loser jumps in the lake a few miles from here." I gave him a confused look, he had seemed so confident in his condition, but it was lame. And I knew that he knew that. "But-" he began. I knew that wasn't it. "You do it buck ass naked, and you make the rest of the walk back without clothes." I smiled at him, that was more like it. It wasn't like I was embarrassed at the bet, but I had to admit that I was nervous that Daryl would see me completely naked. Oh! Who was I kidding? I was winning this bet.

I smiled at him and heard another crack directly above us. Raising my bow, I fired the arrow blindly and was surprised when a squirrel fell directly in front of me. I had only gotten the foot, which wasn't a kill shot, but I had still hit it. I bent down to it, and slit the throat. Standing back up, I nocked my arrow once more, hooked the squirrel to my belt loop and turned to Daryl with a sly grin on my face. It was a total lucky shot, but I still made it, and I had made sure not to let the surprise show on my face. "Better loosen that belt Dixon," I told Daryl with a small wink. I laughed as I saw the stunned look on his face and I let myself think, 'this is gonna be easy.'

It turned out that it wasn't. After my amazing squirrel catch, it took us a while before we found anything else, and that was a rabbit. Daryl had gotten to that one first. After that had been a few more squirrels, Daryl had gotten one and I'd gotten two. Then there had been two quails, Daryl had gotten both. Another squirrel had gone to me after that, and we'd been tied once more. We had then decided to turn back, making a wide arc to clear a new section of the woods. On the way back I had immediately caught two squirrels, and then Daryl had caught one. We were now almost at the prison with a tie on our hands. At this point, I didn't know what we'd do if we ended up tying. Maybe try again next time? Or see who got more meat? Turning to Daryl, I gave him a small smile, intent on distracting him from the hunt so I could pull ahead. There was no way that I was losing this one. "For the off season, we didn't do too bad," I told Daryl, hoping that he would buy the bait.

He nodded at me and looked down at his belt. "Nah we didn't. Wanna head back? Just call this one a draw? Do it again when there's more out, make it less of a challenge for you?" He asked me. I laughed and shoved him glad that he was playing into my trap.

"Sure," I told him. But just as I did, he swung his crossbow towards me and I ducked. I heard the arrow fire and the indistinct sound of an animal in pain. Damn it. I turned back and saw that it was a rabbit, lying in a pool of its own blood.

Daryl smirked at me and walked past me, grabbing his prize. I glared at him as he walked back at me and waved the animal in my face. I pushed it away and had to restrain myself from slapping him across the face. "Well, well sweetheart. Let's head to the lake shall we?" He asked me. Now, I could have run or I could have tried to plead my way out of it, but I decided to lose with dignity. I nodded at him and made my way to the lake with my head held high. The lake was only about a five minute walk from where we were, and the entire walk over there, I had been fighting to keep my heart rate normal but it was no use. It was pounding out of my chest, I was so terrified for Daryl to see all of me. We made it to the lake and I stood by the edge, watching as the water rippled. "Well? Come on now, you've only got until three," Daryl told me with a laugh. I gritted my teeth but nodded.

I turned back to the lake and sucked in a few deep breaths. "Better enjoy the show," I growled at him. I heard his laughter behind me, but it was different. This laughter was deeper, and it got my heart racing more than it already was. I pulled my tank top off easily, and as it hit the grass, I realized that I should probably get rid of it anyways, it was covered in blood. Reaching down to my pants, I undid the button and let them slide down my legs. I could feel Daryl's stare burning a hole through my back, and I smirked when I realized that the underwear covered everything, but it was a sheer lace. At least it would make my ass be a little less of a shock. I hesitated for a moment before I undid the fasten on my bra and threw it off to the side. After catching my breath again, I finally let my underwear slide down as well, and with that, I was now completely naked. I blushed, but took a few steps toward the water. Taking one last deep breath, I jumped in and felt all my muscles tighten when I hit the water. It was cold, still icy from the winter. With Daryl not specifying how long I had to stay in, I swam over to the bank and pulled myself up onto the grass. Laying there for a moment, I shook myself off and stood up. I met Daryl eye-to-eye and I had to give him credit, his eyes never dropped from mine. "Well? Come on, let's head back," I told him before grabbing my clothes and belt of game and strutting away.

I could hear his soft footsteps behind me, and I turned back to him expecting to find his eyes glued to my legs or ass. It turned out that he was watching around the woods. I smiled and decided to fall into step with him. It was a peaceful walk until I began to replay the events of the last few days. I sighed and looked over at Daryl. "You know, there's too much sadness in the world. We rarely get to have fun like we did just now," I told him.

He seemed to be thinking about it, as I saw that his eyebrows were knitting together. "Yeah, there is. And ya were right about Carl's life being unfair. But this is unfair to all of us. Not any one of us deserved to have this happen to us. But ya know what?" He asked me. I shook my head at him. "We have each other, and for some of us, this is the first real family that we've ever had. These people, they are always what we needed. It's just too bad that we all had to come into each other's lives like this." I looked at Daryl and smiled. Leave it to the redneck to give the best advice and say the right things at the best times.

I nodded to him and began to drop down the hill that led us back to the prison. We had been walking down the hill for a few minutes before we hit an even area of the grass. I stopped and pulled Daryl back. There was a question lingering in the back of my mind, and I needed the answer now. He gave me an odd look and went to ask what I was doing, but I cut him off. "Do you really love me?" I threw out before I could lose my nerve.

I could tell that I had surprised Daryl as he stood, staring at me blankly for a moment. He shook his head and grabbed my hand. I blushed, knowing that he was seeing me in all my glory. Well, my dirty and bloody glory. "Rain, I've never said that to anyone. Do you think I'd say it to ya if I didn't mean it?" He asked me. I was shocked that he had never said it to anyone, but I suppose it explained his emotional distance to everyone. I shook my head and dropped it to the ground, but he caught my chin and forced me to look at him. "Rain. I love ya more than anything, and I'll never let anything happen to ya. I swear, even if it gets me killed, I'll protect ya til the end." I stared at him for a moment before I let a smile cross my lips. No one had ever cared about me that much before. Stepping forward and closing the space between us, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed me. I had expected that he would push me away and ask me to get changed, but he didn't. Instead, he pulled me closer. I smiled into the kiss and ran my hands through his hair. He turned and placed me softly into the grass, climbing on top of me. Before he could come back down to my lips though, I pulled his shirt off of him and tossed it to the side.

I had expected him to stop me at some point but I knew in the back of my mind that he wouldn't. We had both suffered too much heartache these past few days, and we needed to be near each other. To feel and to be loved. I let my tongue run along his bottom lip, and he let me in, tugging at my bottom lip with his teeth. I laughed and smacked his back lightly. I felt his hands run down my body and I knew that every muscle in my body was as tense as can be. Every little touch of his fingertips left a trail of fire, and electricity was flying through my veins. I smiled at him when he pulled away, and tested the waters with his pants. I undid the button and slid them off. Surprisingly, this time he didn't stop it. He kicked them off to the side and went to kiss me. Right before he did though, I saw a flicker of gold in the grass. Pushing Daryl away, I sat up and grabbed it. The thing looked familiar, a square shaped packet, and I laughed when I saw that it was a condom. Pulling it up, Daryl snatched it from me. "So you thought you'd get some huh?" I asked Daryl, with a mischievous glint in my eyes.

He smiled at me and hooked his hands in his boxer lining. I glanced down at them and when I looked back up, his face had gone deathly serious. "Rain, you don't have to, I'm not gonna make you," he told me with a bashful look. I shook my head at him and broke open the wrapper of the condom. I pushed Daryl onto his back and positioned myself over him.

I smiled at him and hooked my hands into his boxers. "I want to," I told him. I leaned down to kiss him, and the rest was something that I had never experienced before. I had sex with someone that I actually loved for the first time ever.

Afterwards...

I laid on my back next to Daryl, the both of us trying to catch our breath. It had been wonderful. First off, I hadn't gotten some in way too long, and I assumed neither had he. That showed by the fact that neither of us lasted very long. But that didn't matter. It had been the best thing that had happened to me in a long time. I turned to look at Daryl, and I saw that he was already looking at me. There was no emotion on his face, but I saw it all in his eyes. The love, the passion, everything that he didn't vocalize, but that I knew was there. He pushed the hair out of my eyes and gave me a small peck on the lips. "We should head back now, I think it's getting close to three," he told me. I nodded and stood up on shaky legs. As fast as I could, I pulled on my bra, shirt, underwear, and pants. As I turned back, I saw that Daryl was already dressed and currently grabbing his weapons. Following suit, I grabbed my knife, re-sheathing it, and pulled my arrows and my bow onto my back. As I straightened my hair out, Daryl looked at me and smiled. "You ready?" I nodded at him and we made our way back down the hill, towards the prison.

The walk was silent, but not awkward. Every few seconds we would look over at each other and laugh, or make a funny face. Or something of the sort. I smiled at him and jabbed him in the ribs. "Maybe we need to make those bets more often, if they make you like that," I told him with a wink. He laughed and shoved me as we made our way to the wood line. I waved my bow to catch Hershel's attention, who was standing by the gate. He took out the few walkers that were in front of us and gave us a quick nod, telling us that we could go through. I nodded to Daryl and the two of us made a mad dash for the gate, narrowly missing the jaws of a few walkers. I sighed as Hershel closed the gate, and I looked over at Hershel. "Got a bunch of game for us. Daryl ya wanna go skin and clean 'em?" I asked. He nodded at me, and I threw the belt of animals at him.

"Ya going out now?" He asked me. I nodded at him and he sighed. "Be careful girl," he told me.

I smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "You know me, I'm always careful," I told him. He rolled his eyes but nodded at me anyways. I watched as he walked up the drive and I turned back to Hershel. "So are Maggie and Glenn ready to go?" He nodded at me and I went to walk away before another thought hit me. "Hey Hershel, have you seen Rick since he left?" I asked the older man. He sighed and shook his head at me.

I gave him an odd look and he merely pointed towards the area that the boiler room was in. "He hasn't left since you saw him. I went to check on him and he said that he was waiting on a call," Hershel told me. What? The phones didn't work anymore, how was Rick waiting on a call? "He said that they promised that they were in a safe place. The people on the phone. I picked up the receiver, and it was dead. There was nothing. The line isn't in operation, Rick is hearing things Rain, and that's not good."

I sighed and shook my head. "I get it. He's in a state of post-traumatic stress disorder. He just lost his wife, and in his eyes, one of the people he trusted killed her. I hurt him and I sent him over the edge. Maybe when we get back I'll talk to him. Hopefully he'll listen to reason when I bring up his daughter," I told the older man.

He nodded at me and looked me in the eye. ""Rain, you need to know that it wasn't your fault. What happened to Lori was unfortunate, but she chose to die, to save her child."

I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I know that Hershel. I promise that I do. Lori asked me to do what I did, and while I may have taken one member of his family away, I did everything to ensure that I gave him another one. And I did, we have a new baby around here. And I gotta say, the innocence is refreshing," I told him. Hershel gave me a small smile and squeezed my hand. "Anyways, thanks Hershel. I should go find Glenn and Maggie now. Get going on that run. Have you seen them?"

"Over by the cars dear. They're waiting for you." I nodded my head and ran over to the cars, bounding over to our decent sized hatchback. We were all hoping that this run would be a plentiful one. I smiled at the pair as I came up and the two gave me a quick greeting. I pulled my bow from my shoulders and tossed it into the back of the car, throwing down the hood right after.

I walked around to the side of the car and stood in front of the two lovers. "So we ready to go?" I asked them. The two nodded at me and I jumped in the back seat, stretching myself out across the seat. I let my hair fall over my face, and I tried to calm down as I heard the car engine rumble to life. My thoughts wouldn't stop rolling. I had done it. I had wanted it so bad. I had finally had sex with Daryl, and it was everything that I could have ever imagined. It had meant more to me than he could ever understand. Sensing eyes on me, I looked up to see Glenn smirking at me from the rear-view mirror, and Maggie looking back at me with a sly grin on her face. I stared at the two for a moment before narrowing my eyes. "OK I give up, what's on my face?" I asked as we flew down the road. Both laughed and Maggie jumped over the center console, coming to sit next to me. I stared at the brunette in confusion for a moment before I poked her in the face. "Earth to Maggie. What is it? Do you need some mental health care?" I asked her.

She smiled and shoved me. "No dummy! What happened out on that hunting trip?" I tried not to look too startled, so I merely cocked my eyebrow at her. "Oh come on Rain, you're my best friend. I know when something happens to you. And I know that something good happened out there. That smile on your face says it all," she told me with a devious grin. I tried to let my grin casually slip from my face, but it was pointless, I was too happy.

Instead of trying to fight her about it, I just came up with a plausible lie. "It's off season right now and you should have seen all the game that we brought back. It should keep us for about a week or two," I told her. She seemed to think it over for a moment. I let out a slow breath. I could only hope that she buys the lie.

It turned out that it was Glenn who didn't believe me. "Yeah, yeah Rain. That's great but that's not it. Now are you gonna tell us what it really is or are we gonna have to force it out of you?" He asked me. I shrugged my shoulders, acting like I had no idea what they were talking about, but they both saw right through it. To my shock, Glenn stomped on the brakes and sent both Maggie and myself into the seats in front of us.

I hit my shoulder hard on the seat and reached over to thump Glenn on the back of the head. "Glenn you idiot! What the hell?! You could've killed us!" I screeched at him.

Maggie managed to catch me on the shoulders before I jumped up to Glenn. "Rain stop! Glenn isn't gonna move this car until you tell us. And don't give us some bullshit lie. We'll know the truth when you say it. We'll stay here all day if we have to sweetheart, so you better get to talking." I stared at her in utter shock. I couldn't believe that they were doing this to me!

"Glenn! Don't let her do this!" The young Asian man simply shrugged his shoulders and I glared at him. I tried to wait it out, hoping that they would eventually get bored and leave, but they didn't. I figured that it may embarrass me, but I might as well just tell them the truth. I was sure at some point the two of them would find out anyways. "Alright, if I tell you guys can we go?" I asked them. They both nodded enthusiastically at me and kept their school girl like gazes on me. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. "Well Daryl and I were out hunting and we made a bet that whoever got the least amount of animals at the end had to jump in the lake naked and have to walk back that way. So I lost by one and I had to do it. So I jumped in and we made it to this clearing afterwards, nothing really happened. We talked for a minute and had some fun and then we kissed and well... You know," I mumbled the last part sure that I was as bright as a Christmas tree.

I could tell that the pair was still processing what I had told them, and I nearly screamed when Maggie grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Oh my God! You and Daryl had sex! You two actually did it!" She screamed at me. I groaned and tried to shove her off of me but it wasn't working. She had too tight of a grip on me.

I could hear Glenn laughing in the front seat and I managed to rip myself away from Maggie long enough to slap him and shove her into the front seat. "Damn it, get up there!" I yelled at her. She finally moved up, but the questions were still flying at me. How was it? How'd he do it? Was it good? Was it rough? How did he like it? Did it last long? Did you have protection? I rolled my eyes at them and sighed into my lap. "Ugh, alright shut up! Just stop with the questions and I'll tell you!" They both immediately stopped talking and I rolled my eyes once more. "Glenn, start driving." He nodded and threw the car back into drive, and we went roaring back down the highway. "Well where do I start? I guess of course we used protection Maggie!" I yelled at the girl. She visibly relaxed and I huffed to myself. How stupid did she think I was? "Umm... It was great. Maybe the best ever," I said with a deep blush. I could see the Cheshire grins on the couple and I nearly slapped it off of the both of them. "It was just natural, like we both knew what the other wanted. It started out slow, but by the end we were both covered in sweat, we needed the release so bad from each other. I think he liked it, I mean he gave no indication that it was bad. It uh, it lasted a while. But I mean, come on, it's been probably about a year for me and maybe even longer for him. We had so much pent up sexual frustration with each other too that we got to get out," I told them.

They both smiled at me and poked and prodded me. "Our little girl is grown up!" Glenn shouted. I rolled my eyes at the two as they picked on me, and when the car finally rolled to a stop outside of the supermarket, I launched myself out.

I went to the back of my car and grabbed my bow and arrows, nocking an arrow and slinging the rest over my shoulder. I quietly stalked into the store with Maggie and Glenn right on my tail. I motioned to Maggie to go up the middle, Glenn to take the right side, and I would take the left. I walked off and made quick work of the isles. There wasn't much on my side that we could use. I picked up a few cartons of powdered eggs and the few canned vegetables that were left, but even that was hardly anything. I began to make my way back to the front, picking up some feminine hygiene products and a box of condoms just in case. Searching through the rest of the area, I picked up three cases of arrows for myself and Daryl, and a tiny pocket knife. I made my way up to the front then, with nothing else to pick up. The bullets had been wiped clean and there was only a little bit of hunting gear left. I hoped that the other two had had better luck. I looked around and noticed that there was also no sign of walkers. There was nothing, anywhere. I was shocked, the run seemed way too easy. I walked back up to the front of the store where Maggie and Glenn already were. "How'd you guys do?" I asked them, seeing the arm loads of junk.

Glenn walked over to the doors and dropped his load, myself and Maggie following suit. "Not bad, actually. Looks like you didn't do too badly either?" I shook my head and motioned to my pile. He nodded at me and turned to us. "So I'll bring out my pile first, you both have my back OK?" We both nodded at him and prepared to make our way back out to the car.

We were about to walk outside when I turned back and saw a plastic duck that would normally be used for shooting. I smiled and thought that it might make a good toy for the baby. It wasn't much but hey, we were still trying to give that little girl the best life that we could with the little we had. I nudged Maggie and when she looked over at me, I pointed to the duck. I saw the smile cross her face as she looked over towards Glenn who had just picked up his pile.

Maggie nudged him in the shoulder and pointed to the plastic animal. "Glenn, get that duck," she told him. I nearly laughed at the incredulous look he gave her.

He stared at her like she had gone mad and looked around the supermarket. "What?" He asked her, clearly not seeing the duck. The duck that was literally only two feet in front of him. Glenn you idiot, its right there. I slapped him and forced his face to look directly at the duck. I heard him hum as he realized what Maggie had been talking about.

Maggie groaned and pointed over to the plastic animal. "Get that duck," she told him. The look on his face was absolutely priceless. He looked as if she had just asked him to kiss a walker.

He stared at her for a moment before giving her a look like she was the most insane person he'd ever met. "Are you serious?" He asked her. Maggie nodded and Glenn looked over to me if I agreed with her. I nodded and he gave me a look that was obviously meant to tell me that I was a traitor. I snorted and motioned over to the duck.

Maggie rolled her eyes and walked over to the duck, following behind Glenn. "Yeah. A kid growing up in a prison could use some toys," Maggie told him. I nodded at her, she was right. The new baby wouldn't have that many happy childhood memories of Christmas's or toys, so even something as simple as a plastic duck meant for hunting would do her some good.

Glenn looked back at us one more time to see if we were serious, and the two of us both nodded at him. He rolled his eyes but grabbed the duck anyways, placing it on top of his box. The three of us turned around and made our way out of the store, myself walking out first, followed by Glenn with Maggie taking up the rear. I walked over to the car and watched as Glenn sat the box down by the edge of the car. I looked into the box and noticed that it was stock-piled full of baby formula. I smiled and patted Glenn on the shoulder. "We just hit the powdered formula jackpot," Glenn told me and I smiled at him.

"Oh, thank God," Maggie breathed out. She was right, Daryl and I hadn't had much luck on grabbing formula from the daycare. What we had found would most likely only last us a few days. This should be able to last us two months if the baby had a small stomach. Here's hoping for that. I noticed that there was also a variety of foods that we could eat in the box as well.

Glenn shuffled the stuff around as the three of us bent down to look through the box. See what exactly Glenn had found. "I also got beans, batteries, cocktail wieners, many mustards." I smiled at Glenn, he had found a lot of stuff that we desperately needed. The ammo was number one though, and there had been none of that left.

I looked around and saw that the sun was setting now. We needed to hurry back if we wanted to make it to the prison for a dinner with the fresh meat Daryl and I had caught. "It's a straight shot back to the prison from here. Probably make it in time for dinner," Maggie said. I smiled at her, for once I'd be able to sleep through the night with a stomach full of food.

I nudged Maggie in the shoulder and gave her a sly smirk. "Oh yeah, and you can enjoy knowing exactly what that meat was around," I told her with a wink. Maggie shrieked and pretended to gag. I laughed and slapped her over the head. "That's what you get for laughing at me in the car you bitch!" I yelled at her, laughing like a maniac.

Glenn rolled his eyes and the two of us finally settled down. We all sat in silence for a moment and I reveled in the sound. We were going to have to get used to the sound of a baby crying for a while. "I like the quiet. Back there, back home, you can always hear them outside the fence no matter where you are," Glenn told us. I knew that he meant the walkers, and he was right. We always heard them growling, all hours of the night. It was freaky knowing that they were so close to getting into our home.

"And where is it y'all good people are calling home?" I heard a scratchy voice call. I panicked immediately, knowing that it was not one of us. My mind wandered back to Dave and Tony and I felt my heart speed up. I didn't want to have to kill another living man. But as the man let out a low laugh, I recognized the guttural sound. It was a deep southern accent, and one that I hadn't heard in months. It was one that I had never thought I'd hear again.

I turned back, the first of us to turn back and I nearly fainted when I really got a look at him. "Merle?" I asked. I looked at Daryl's older brother for a moment and let it sink in. He was still here, alive. He looked pretty similar to the way we had left him too, except a little stronger and he had this odd contraption on his hand. It was like a metal stump with a bayonet attached to the end. I'd never seen anything like it. My assumption was that he had made it himself.

I could see the shock written plain and clear across the older Dixon's face. "Wow!" He shouted at us, lingering on Maggie for a moment. I remembered, Merle had no idea who Maggie was, he had never gotten to meet her. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite little girl. Rain. How 'bout ya come give ole' Merle a hug?" He asked me before taking a few steps forward.

Just like that, both Maggie and I pulled out our guns, aiming them towards him. "Hey, back the hell up!" Maggie shouted at him. I looked back at her and saw that she was putting the pieces together. I was sure that she would realize who exactly this was soon enough.

Merle raised both hands and laughed at her. "Okay, okay, honey." He back off a few steps, but I kept my gun raised. I didn't trust Merle, I never had but he had been away from us for too long. And I had no idea if he blamed Glenn or I for what had happened to him back on the roof in Atlanta all those months ago.

"Jesus. You made it," Glenn breathed out to Merle. I could tell that he, just like me, was having a huge problem with realizing that Merle was still here and standing right in front of us.

He gave us a huge smile and looked over at Glenn and I. "Can you tell me, is my brother alive?" Merle asked us. He seemed sincere, and I felt a twang of sympathy. He wanted to know if his brother was alive. And I couldn't blame the man for that. I felt like he at least deserved to know that Daryl is alive and well.

Maggie and Glenn were silent for a moment before I stepped forward. "Yes Merle, he's alive and he's doing well. He's actually become a valuable member of the group," I told him.

Merle seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding his head. "Hey, you take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings. Huh?" I thought about it for a moment, but I still didn't trust him. If anything, we would bring Daryl out here. We didn't need Merle knowing where we were sleeping at night. He noticed that Glenn was eying up the metal contraption on his arm so he turned over to the Asian man. "You like that? Yeah. Well, I found myself a medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself. Well, pretty cool, huh?" He asked us. I tried to glare at Merle but I was impressed. That must have taken a hell of a toll on his body to make something like that after losing so much blood.

I shook my head at Merle and back away, never letting my guard down. "We'll tell Daryl you're here and he'll come out to meet you," I told Merle, hoping that he would be OK with our deal.

As I had suspected though, he wasn't. Merle glared at us and walked forward. "Hold on. Just hold up," he told us coming dangerously close to us. Both Maggie, Glenn and I all cocked our weapons at the former group member.

Merle laughed and held his hands up once more as Glenn stepped level with me and yelled out at Merle. "Whoa. Whoa. Hold up here. Hold up," he told the older man. I noticed that Merle was making a short circle around us, and he was now incredibly close to where I was standing.

The older man gave us an even look, but I could tell that he was getting angry. I knew that it wouldn't be long before he snapped on us. "Hey, the fact that we found each other is a miracle. Come on, now. You can trust me," Merle told us. As if it made it better, he dropped the hand that had the huge ass knife on it. Right buddy, like that makes it so much better. We all know that it's still there. And that you could pull it out at any second if you wanted to.

Glenn nodded and began to back away, holding his hands up to Merle. "You trust us. You stay here," he told the eldest Dixon brother before backing away.

I moved back as well when I saw Merle jump from behind us. "No!" Merle yelled before grabbing me by the throat. I gasped and jabbed my elbow into his sternum. I heard the air leave his lungs, but to his credit he didn't let go. I felt my heart almost stop when Merle held his gun up to my temple. I knew that Glenn had been about to take a shot, but with me in the way, he wouldn't risk it now. "Hey, hey, hold up, buddy, hold up," Merle told Glenn. I thought about bringing Daryl into it, but I felt that silence was my best option here.

Glenn tightened his grip on the gun and gritted his teeth at Merle. "Let go of her. Let go of her!" He yelled at Merle as the older man walked mo over to the car. With their guns up, Maggie and Glenn followed us. "Come on Merle, let her go. Daryl will never forgive you if you do that," Glenn told him. I could feel Merle tense, but it seemed like he would let that comment go for now.

Merle laughed and corralled Glenn to the hatchback area of the car. "Put it in the car, son." Glenn slowly let his gun into the back seat followed by Maggie. "There you go," Merle said before grabbing Maggie by the hair. "Now we're gonna go for a little drive," Merle growled as he threw her into the front passenger seat, and me into the back driver seat.

Glenn glared at Merle, who laughed at the Asian man. "We're not going back to our camp," Glenn growled at Merle.

Merle smiled at him and gave him a small nod. "No, we're going somewhere else. Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving! Move!" He yelled at the younger man. I felt my heart stop, but I knew deep down, that Merle wasn't going to risk killing any of us out here. If anything, he would wait until we got to wherever it was that we were going.

Glenn put his hands up and moved into the driver's seat as Merle raised his gun to Glenn's head. "Don't. Okay," he reasoned with the older man. He was clearly hoping to keep the Dixon man as calm as he could.

Merle smiled and pushed Glenn into the driver's seat with the barrel of his gun. "Get up. That's it. Oh, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah, buddy," Merle laughed as Glenn started the ignition. I swallowed hard as he started the car and we sped out of the lot. As we hit the exit of the mini mall, Merle pointed to the left and Glenn took a sharp left, in the opposite direction of the prison.

I sat next to Merle, hoping that if I might distract him, I could buy Maggie and Glenn some time to make a plan. "Merle," I called to the older man. He cocked his eyebrows and I gave him the best pleading look I could. Maybe if I told him our story, I could weasel my way out of this with the sympathy card. "You know, you've missed a lot since you've been gone," I told him. He laughed but nodded his head.

"So ya gonna tell me what's been happening since I've been gone princess?" I growled at the use of his old nickname for me, but I knew I had to play nice. It would most likely be my only way out of this.

I glared at the man but took a deep breath. It was gonna be a long story. "Look, when we came back, we went right back out looking for you. Or they did anyways. Daryl, T-Dog, Rick, and Glenn. They went to find you. Apparently they only found your hand, but they saw that you had taken out two walkers and managed to cauterize your wounds. They went to come back to camp, but the van wasn't there, you took it." He laughed and nodded, and I put together that it really had been Merle who had taken the van. "Anyways, you drew walkers up to our campsite and we lost a lot of that people in that attack. Over half of the camp, Ed, and Amy," I told the older man. He nodded at me once more, this time with a solemn look on his face. "Anyways, turned out that Jim had gotten bit too. Oh and you never knew that Lori, well she is Rick's wife and Carl is their son. They're together now. So we headed to the CDC and we got a few answers there. Nothing too good though, we almost got killed by the suicidal man that had once worked there. Dr. Jenner. Daryl and I actually became friends there." I saw the surprise on Merle's face, but I managed to ignore it.

I went to continue my story but Merle cut me off. "Wait there princess. You and Daryl, actually friends? Or is he puttin' the grind to ya?" I ignored Merle and rolled my eyes. He may be right, but I wasn't gonna sit here and listen to him. "Well how 'bout you and I take a few rounds to show ya what a real man is like in the sack?" I gagged slightly and Merle let out a hearty laugh at my reaction.

"Anyways," I growled at Merle, "we managed to make it out of there. Jacqui stayed behind and Andrea tried too but Dale managed to talk her out of it. We all got back on the road and we were attacked by walkers. Sophia got separated from us and that sent us on the hunt for her. Shane, Rick, myself and Carl stayed out one day looking for her. Carl and I got shot in the process, him much worse than me. Shane and the man that shot us, Otis went to go get a respirator to help Carl breathe during surgery, and Shane killed Otis on that run. But anyways, we went to this farm where we met Maggie and her family. Hershel and Beth, her father and sister are still with us. Anyways, we found out the barn was full of walkers, and Sophia had been in there all along, then we had to go out and find Hershel who was-" I tried to continue my story but Merle cut me off.

"Girl, I appreciate the story but it's gettin a little confusing. Who else did y'all lose? Tell me that," he told me.

I nodded at Merle and I thought about it. "We lost Dale, a walker got him. Shane too, he tried to kill Rick, but Rick got to him first. During the attack on the farm we lost Andrea too," I told him. I saw the slight smirk on his face and I narrowed my eyes at him. He had to know something that I didn't know. "After that it was Hershel who got bit, but we cut off the leg and saved him from dying. Then it was T-Dog and Carol, both from walkers." I noticed the smile on Merle's face at the thought of T-Dog's death, and I nearly slapped the shit out of him. "Anyways, the last of the deaths was Lori. She was pregnant and had to have an emergency C section. I had to do it, I killed her. But I did save the baby. It's a baby girl. She's only a day old. Daryl is good with her," I told Merle. I saw a brief flash of emotion in his eyes but it quickly vanished. I was out of things to stall with, so I looked over at Merle again. "So what's been going on with you?" I asked Merle.

He glanced over at me and smiled. "You're about to find out doll. Welcome to Woodbury," Merle told us. I looked up, and what I saw amazed me. There were walls 20 feet high and covered with tires that were surrounding military vehicles. It seemed to be a town beyond that from what I could see. I looked up the wall and saw that there was some type of patrol team. As they saw us approaching, the people on the wall yelled out orders, and the gate opened to let us in. As soon as we had driven in though, the gate was once more closed. Merle jumped out of the car as Glenn hit the brakes and he pulled the Asian man out of the car, handing him off to a Spanish looking man. Going around to the other side of the car, he pulled Maggie out and handed her over to a brunette woman with long hair. Walking to my door, Merle pulled me out and I expected him to let go of me, but instead he pulled me along with him. "You get to meet our leader," Merle told me. I struggled against him, but it was no use. He was stronger than I was. I looked over at Maggie and Glenn, and saw that the two of them were having no luck against their captors either. As the two of us rounded a corner, I was cut off from my view of my group members and dragged into a warehouse looking building.

I pushed and pulled against Merle but it was no use. I wasn't going anywhere. "Why are you bringing me to the leader Merle? What did I do that makes me so special?" I asked him.

Merle laughed at me and pushed me into what looked like an interrogation room. He threw me into a metal chair and quickly got to tying me up. "Oh the Governor will just love you," he told me with a wink. I gagged in disgust and tried to kick at Merle, but he wasn't standing close enough to me. "And besides girl, ya seem to know the most about Daryl and wherever it is that y'all call home. Makes the most sense for the Governor to talk to you," He told me before walking out of the room.

I could hear his own voice and another deeper one that must belong to this "Governor" character. I tried as hard as I could to free myself from the restraints, but nothing that I was doing was working. I was stuck here. I sat and let my mind wander. What the hell was happening to Maggie and Glenn? I hoped that they were OK seeing as I was the one that had to meet the leader of these people. I wondered if the baby had made it. If she had a name yet. I wondered if Rick was doing better, if he had come out of the boiler room yet or if he was still waiting for his phone call. I wondered how long it would be before our people came to look for us. I wondered if I would die here. I wondered if I could ever get free, with Maggie and Glenn. I wondered if Merle would turn out to be a good guy after all. I wondered what Daryl would be thinking when they all found out that we were gone. I wondered if they would go looking for us. I wondered if they would somehow find us here. I wondered if they would fight for us. I wondered if Daryl would ever see Merle again. I wondered if he really loved me. And I wondered if I would ever see Daryl again.

Just as my thoughts were beginning to come together, I heard the door latch clunk open and I looked over. Merle walked in first giving me a big smirk and I glared at him, letting my gaze fall to the floor. Right after though, he moved, and I saw the feet of the Governor. I saw the strong but lean frame first. The tense way that he carried himself, as an authoritarian leader. I let my eyes travel upward and I saw his dark brown hair. And the last thing I saw were the eyes. Eyes that I knew I had seen before. Dark brown eyes that resembled my own. Eyes that I had sworn to myself I would never see again.

I let a sharp breathe leave my body and I nearly fainted when the complete recognition kicked in. With the quietest voice I could imagine, I uttered one word to a man that I had sworn I would never speak to again. "Dad?"

A/N: Well there you have it! Rain's family is finally being revealed! So I have a question for you guys, did you see this plot point coming? If you did, how? If not, well how do you like it? Also, what did you guys think of Rain and Daryl's bonding session? And how do you think he's gonna take her being gone when he finds out? So I hope you guys liked it, because this one scene where the two of them are reintroduced is what started this entire story! Well, I hope you guys liked it, I really enjoyed writing it! Please review guys, it really helps my writing, and at this point in the story it's crucial for me to know what my readers think! As always, thank you for the follows and favorites from **zanzas2y5, Lovemebihh, Phljulianna, **and **stefaniewilliams32**! And of course a huge thank you to my **guest **reviewer **Mandy!** Til next time -A


	27. Deal With The Devil

I sat in utter shock at the fact that my father, the man who had ruined my life, was standing right in front of me. I gave him a good, scrutinizing glance, curious if he had changed at all over the years. After all, it had probably been about nine years since I'd seen the man. His height was the first thing that registered with me. My father had always been tall, six-foot-three to be exact, and I had always felt tiny compared to him. I still did; that was just the effect that he had on people. I supposed that that was why these people had made him like their dictator. His face looked about the same, a few more wrinkles and a little less tanned but still the same. The only difference was that instead of a furious glare directed at me, it was a horrified recognition.

He seemed to still be processing all of this, and after a few glances at me, it finally seemed to kick in with him. I was really here. I was sure that he hadn't recognized me either. After all since I'd left home I'd lost my baby fat, gained muscles and the womanly curves, I had a tattoo slightly visible, and overall I looked stronger now. I wasn't that weak little girl who would take his shit anymore. The man who had once been my father stepped forward to me slightly with disbelief in his eyes. "Rain..." he muttered as he came within a few feet of my chair. I almost let him walk up to me, but I was suddenly filled with the vile memories of who this man really was. I snapped out of my daze and kicked out at him, narrowly missing my target. He backed off and let a small glare cross his face.

He seemed like he was about to try and justify himself to me, but I didn't want to hear any of it. "Don't you dare! Don't you speak to me and don't you touch me. You lost all of those privileges a long time ago." I glared at the man in front of me who actually had the audacity to look hurt. How dare he. He had no right to come anywhere near me, not after everything he had put me through. I managed to tear my line of sight away from my father and glance over at Merle. I saw his horrified expression and I knew that he actually felt some sorrow for what he had done for me. I was pretty sure that he didn't know that I was his leader's daughter, but he did know that we had clearly not been left off on any means of good terms.

I looked back over at my father who turned his back to Merle and motioned him to the door. "Merle, I'd like a moment with my daughter please. Can you perhaps go have a word with your old friend Glenn?" He asked. I saw the utter shock roll over Merle's face, but he quickly wiped it off. He said nothing, but nodded and turned to the door. My father turned back to me, but my attention was firmly locked on Merle. He stood at the door for a few seconds and I could see the emotion plain and simple in his eyes. He was trying to tell me that he was sorry. I shook my head and with that, Merle turned to leave. The door slammed shut and my father walked to the back of my chair, undoing the knots that Merle had done. "Shouldn't have my daughter tied up like this, not when I just want to see what's been going on in your life." I glared at him and shook my hands to get the blood flowing back through.

He turned his back to me and pulled up another chair, placing it directly in front of me. I felt the fear sink into me, but there was no way that I was going to let it take over. As he plopped down into his chair, I crossed my legs and put on my stone cold face. "Hello father, it's been a long time," I told him.

He smirked at me and nodded his head. "Yes it has my dear. Almost nine years. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. Some good and some bad," he told me. I shook my head at him and leaned forward in my chair. "Tell me Rain, what's happened with you? What have I missed?" He asked me as if he actually cared.

I grunted at him and began to pick at the small studs on my boots. "A lot actually. You missed my graduation, my prom, and my first day of high school. Uncle Philip was actually there for that believe it or not, I stayed with him for two years after I left that hellhole that you called home. Anyways, I started college and was about to graduate when this all started. I was majoring in building construction, had a few job offers lined up. No real social life though, I worked and went to school and that was it. The social life I did have didn't last for much more than a night," I told him with a dark look. I wanted him to know that I blamed him for everything that had happened to me. "I guess I really only have one thing to thank you for. You made me tough, you helped me on those cold nights on the street. And you've help me survive this so far. It was all you," I told him.

He actually didn't say anything for a minute. He merely sat there and stared at me with his hands resting in his lap. After a few beats he finally looked at me and gave me a sad smile. "Oh Rain… I never meant for any of that to happen. Sweetheart, I love you. And I always did. Everything that I ever did was out of fear that I would never make you strong enough for the world. When your mother died, I did the wrong thing taking it out on you. But you have to believe me that everything I did wasn't out of hate, it was-"

I had been doing a great job at blocking out what he was saying and telling myself that it was all a lie, but it was getting to the point that I could no longer tolerate it. "No! Everything that you did was because I was never exactly what you wanted! You don't love me! You threw me away as soon as you got Penny. The perfect daughter. You would never have done any of that if you really did love me. I hate you, and I always will. I'm ashamed to call someone like you my father. You may be my family in blood but I have a new family. And just one of them are twenty times the person that you are. Tell me, do these people know who exactly they're dealing with?" I asked him. He needed to know that I wasn't gonna sit here and take it like a dead dog. I'd done that enough, now it was time for me to retaliate.

He merely stared at me for a moment, shocked that I had actually said something like that to him. "Rain, Penny's no longer here." I sat there for a moment in utter shock. Penny was dead. I had always hated her but it really never was her fault what had happened to me, I didn't want her to die. "Anyways, these people just know that I'm here to make sure that they have something worth living for. Something more than just surviving. We're here to give these people a home."

I nodded to him knowing that there was nothing really cruel that I could say back to that. "So why are you really here? I know that it's not to re-conciliate with me. So what is it? What do you want? Let's stop with the formalities and just get to it," I told him. I was sick of the games, I was sick of him. I just wanted to go home, back to my real family, back to Daryl.

My father gave me a sick smile and stood up. I knew that he was trying to make me fell smaller but I was determined to not let him intimidate me. "So Merle tells me that you and your friends are apparently boarded up somewhere. And evidently with more than just the three of you. Must be pretty safe if it's housing all of you," he told me. Oh God, I knew where this was going, and there was no way in hell that I would let him know about the prison. "So how about you tell me where you good people are calling home? We could all be there together? Maybe give me one more chance to be your father?" He asked me.

I glared at him, there was no way that I was giving in to anything he had just told me. "No. You lost the right to be my father the moment that you laid your hands on me. I'll die before telling you where we are. Those people that I'm with right now, they have you outgunned. You'll never win if you try to go to war with them. And trust me, if it's between you and my real family... I will kill you." I could see the absolute shock in face. I mean, I wasn't surprised. The last time he had seen me, I had been on the verge of tears after a beating, knowing that I had no real place to go. I was tough now. I knew how to get what I wanted. There was no way in hell that I would ever to back to the cowardly girl that I had once been. So maybe I had fudged the truth a little bit about how many of us there were, but it wasn't like he needed to know that. He just needed to know that if he tried anything, we would fight back. And we would win.

My father let out a deep breath and moved to sit in front of me. "I must say Rain, I'm both impressed and and ashamed of you." I stared at him in wonder, what the hell was he talking about? "I'm impressed because you're stronger than the last time that we met. I never thought that I would see the day where my daughter fought back. As well as being ashamed, what are you doing? You're abandoning your father. The man that raised you," he told me. I knew that he was trying to pull at my heartstrings, but it wouldn't work. Not after everything that he had put me through.

I glared at him and stood from my chair. "You are not my father. You never were. And I don't give a damn what you think of me. Maybe once upon a time I did, but those days are long gone. Now I have a question for you," I told my father. He gave me a sidelong glance and I took it as a sign to continue. "What happened to Penny? Where is she?" I asked. I had never cared for my sister before, but if she was still here then I would be a sister to her. At some point, my group would come to rescue me, and I would make sure to take her with us. Away from this place and away from the scumbag that called himself a father.

I looked at my father and could tell by the silence and avoidance of eye contact that she was gone. But I still had to hear it from him myself. After a few beats he finally gave me the response that made me wish I had never asked. "She's gone Rain. We were running from home and they just snatched her form me. I tried so hard to save her, but I couldn't. It was either go back and save her, when it was already too late, or try to save myself. I picked the latter, but believe me Rain, I didn't want to." He seemed sincere, but I still just couldn't trust him. I glared at him and backed away a few steps.

I nodded my head and backed away as he stepped toward me. I was hurt that my sister was no longer here, but I was also glad that she was at least away from that monster that was my father. "Right," I said, not knowing what else to say. "So what now?" I asked him. "I won't tell you where my group is and I can tell that you won't let me go without any persuasion. So, what do you want?" I asked him.

I saw that his grin grew tenfold and I felt my heart sink. He knew what my weakness was right now. Maggie and Glenn. What the hell had he done to them? I was about to ask what he had done with them, but he beat me to it. "Don't worry about your friends. They're safe for now. Although I did send Merle in to question the Asian man, so who knows what happened to him," he told me with a grin.

I felt the fury rise in my chest and I jumped towards my father. "What the hell did you tell Merle to do to him?" I screamed as I advanced on my father. Without any warning, my father reeled back on me and slapped me straight across the face. I fell back, absolutely shocked. For a minute I was sent back to my childhood, crying that my father had had the audacity to hit me. I was immediately tempted to revert back to my days of curling in om myself and crying but I was too strong for that now. I would retaliate. I was no longer the weak little girl who took the abuse from a man that was supposed to love her.

I laid on the floor probably looking absolutely stunned as my father towered over me with a dark smirk. "Well it seems that maybe you didn't change as much as I thought you had," he told me. I growled at him and swung my leg up, hitching it around his knee and pulling it down. He was pulled to the ground too fast as he was sent sprawling to the floor. I jumped across the floor and sent a hard punch to his gut, moving back as fast as I could and making a mad dash to the door. I ripped the door open and was shocked when I fell face-first into Merle. I scrambled to my feet, but Merle was faster. He grabbed onto my shoulders, ripping me back into the room.

My father stood up behind me and pulled me from Merle. He made it look gentle for the older Dixon sibling, but I felt that his pressure was a lot harder than he needed to. He pushed me back into my chair and I smiled when I saw that he was obviously having trouble moving me around. That fall must have hurt. Good. My father shook himself off and turned to face Merle, looking astoundingly calm for what had just happened. "Please take care of my daughter will you Merle? Do what you have to do so that we may give the rest of her group a friendly visit," ht told the older man. Merle nodded, clearly freaked out at what had just happened. Merle nodded and my father limped towards the door; I couldn't help but let a smirk cross my face. As my father walked out, though, he grabbed Merle by the shoulders and leaned towards him asking what had happened to Glenn.

I strained my hearing but managed to hear him. "Set a walker on the kid, wouldn't tell me where they were hanging out. I'll go back later to see what happened to him." I had to fight every fiber in my being to not jump up and strangle Merle to death. Daryl would have to forgive me, because I was gonna kill Merle for that. Even if Glenn had made it, there was no way that Merle was gonna get away with doing that. Not to my family. My father nodded and walked out of the building, though not without giving me one nasty look. As the door closed, Merle walked over to me and I prepared to pounce on him. I jumped up to attack him, but the older Dixon had prepared for it. He held his arms up and forced me back into my chair. "Whoa girl! Calm down, the Asian kid's fine!" He told me.

I stood back up, but this time managed to keep myself from lunging at Merle again. "You set a fucking walker on him! How the hell do you know he's fine?!" I shrieked at Merle. The older man smirked at me and pulled around the chair my father had been using, plopping down in front of me.

"'Cuz I ain't stupid girl. I was sure that the duct tape was loose enough that he'd be able to fight back. Shit ain't that hard to get free with. Kid's fine," he told me. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, my gaze fixed firmly on the floor. After a few beats of silence Merle looked up at me and sighed. "Rain... I'm sorry about that. I didn't know. About The Governor..." I looked up at Merle and felt my heart sink. He really had no idea who the man he was working for was and I didn't blame him. From the sound of it, my father had saved him from near death. I shook my head at Merle and put my hand lightly on his leg.

I stood up and faced Merle with a small smile on my face. "Merle, you had no idea. It's OK, don't apologize." The two of us sat in silence for a moment before a thought crossed my mind. I knew what I had to do. I had to get Maggie and Glenn the hell out of here. Send them back to the prison where they can get help and bring it back here. Maybe I could even convince the group to let Merle back with us; he wasn't my favorite guy but hell, the man was Daryl's family. The only blood family he had left. I wonder what Daryl is doing at this very moment. If they've even realized that we were missing.

MEANWHILE AT THE PRISON

The group and the woman that Rick had found outside the gates were all sitting around the tables. The woman had been shot in the leg and probably would've been walker bait had it not been for the leader, who seemed to be back to sanity. While everyone seemed to be focused on the woman, I was focused on what she'd brought here. It was baby formula. She didn't have a baby with her so I couldn't help but wonder if she somehow knew that we had a baby here. But the only way that she would really known that would have been from Rain, Maggie, and Glenn. And speaking of them, why the hell weren't they back yet? Rick was looking at the woman's wound. He nodded at her and motioned over to Hershel. "We can tend to that wound for you, give you a little food and water, and then send you on your way. But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula," Rick told her, motioning over to the box that was full of food.

She was sitting on the bench across from me, and I immediately looked up. So he had realized it too, that there was something odd about the stuff that she was carrying. "The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy with two pretty girls," she told us. Rain. Why the hell would she drop the supplies? Someone or something would have had to have interrupted them. Maybe it had been walkers? My heart sunk into my stomach as I feared the worst for the young blonde.

Rick stepped up to the woman and leaned down in front of her. "What happened? Were they attacked?" Rick asked as she lurched back. She obviously hadn't been around people in a while. Either that or she was afraid of what people would do to her. Not that it was unreasonable, if she was smart she would be afraid of people. It wasn't just the walkers we had to fear anymore, it was the people as well. They fought back more than walkers did.

The woman looked at us and shook her head, looking down at the floor. "They were taken," she told us. Taken?! What the hell? By who? I knew that as soon as Rick registered what she had just said, we would form a search party and we would get our group back together. There was no way that these people were getting away with this.

Rick let a dumbfound look cross his face before he composed himself. He looked up at her and I noticed that he had a sour look on his face. "Taken? By who?" He asked her. She looked down and rolled her eyes.

She was swinging her hands around in front of her acting as if she wasn't around a group of people that wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she didn't cooperate with us and tell us where the hell our people were. "By the same son of a bitch who shot me," she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. I could tell that Rick was clearly upset with her as she stood up and advanced on her.

He stood over her smaller form and put his hands down on her leg. I saw that she was trying to recoil from his touch, but with the loss of blood, she was no match for Rick. I watched as our leader dug his thumb into her bullet wound and I nearly gagged at the pain that was written clearly across her face. "Hey, these are our people. You tell us what happened now!" He yelled at her as he dug his thumb even harder into her wound. She seemed to finally snap out of the pain as she shoved his hand off of her and tried to jump off of the table. She clearly wasn't strong enough though, as she fell immediately back down onto the table.

She recoiled from Rick and put her hand back on the table. Looking behind her, I noticed that she had a sword strapped to her back, and I knew that if she felt that threatened, she would reach for it. I kept a tight grip on my crossbow just in case I needed to take her down. There was no way that I would let her hurt my people. "Don't you ever touch me again!" She snarled at our leader.

Rick glared at her as he moved backwards slightly. He rubbed his face and looked at her again, seemingly trying to calm his temper down. "You'd better start talking. You're gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound," he told her trying to intimidate her. I stared at her and noticed that even though she looked tough, she was clearly afraid of us. After all, it was five against one. Even if not all of us looked tough, everyone but the baby was armed.

She looked over at Rick and sneered at him. "Find 'em yourself," she told him. I jumped as she went to pull out the sword, but she was still too weak to do anything. I easily pulled the sword away from her and pushed her back down. It might have been a little too harsh, but I needed to get the information out of her. I needed Rain back, she needed to be here with me. And we needed Glenn and Maggie, we needed all the muscle that we had.

I had her pushed down against the table as Rick walked over to her. "Hey, shh, shh, shh. Put it down," he told her. He pushed me away from her lightly and I nodded, releasing her and moving back. She dropped the katana back into its sheath and she turned back to Rick. "You came here for a reason," he told her. She seemed to think about it before she nodded to him. We all backed away from her and waited to see what information she could give us about our missing group members.

She swallowed a few times before looking directly at us. "There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there," she told us. A whole town full of survivors? Civilians or military? That would be what made the difference here. We could easily take down civilians, but military was another thing. And they didn't seem too friendly to me right now.

Rick was obviously shocked by the entire thing as he just stood by her side, staring blankly at the wall. "A whole town?" He asked her. I didn't blame him. The damn place must have walls and everything. There was no way that that many people could survive in the woods of even in a few houses together. This place was clearly well armed if they've been able to fight off walkers for this long.

The woman nodded and looked at Rick. "It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor- pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type." I shook my head at her. That man had gotten the best of Rain? Glenn and Maggie? I knew that they were all smart enough to be suspicious of anyone. Especially someone that looked like that. Although, if they had been ambushed by someone else, it could mean that this Governor man had some serious guns behind him.

Rick seemed to be thinking the same thing. "He got muscle?" Our leader asked the injured woman. It wasn't exactly the easiest question to answer if she hadn't seen his fighters, but we had to know. If we were going to try to attack his people and his group, we needed to be sure that we could win. Not that we were going to try to ambush them and end up leading ourselves into a death trap.

She nodded her head and seemed to relax as Rick backed slightly off of her. "Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall," she told us. I shook my head. I had been hoping that this leader would leave something open, but it seemed like he had thought of everything. And he was smart. He knew that if people saw that he had a town with strong walls, someone would eventually try to take it from them. Rick seemed to think it over for a moment, pacing back and forth for a while before turning back to her.

"You know a way in?" He asked her.

She gave what seemed to be the slightest hint of a smile and nodded at Rick. I could tell that she held some special type of hatred for the man in her heart. "The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through." I nodded at her, at least we had some way to get into the place without being detected.

I stared at the woman for a few moments before a question popped into my mind. "How'd you know how to get here?" I asked her. She looked over at me in shock, probably surprised that someone besides Rick had spoken to her. But I was curious. I wanted to know how she had known to come here. It wasn't like we really had a sign saying that we were here. And even if she did see that people were in here, how could she have known that it was the right group?

She nodded at me and drew in a deep breath. "They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in, that it was a straight shot." I nodded, they must have been talking about getting back here when she had overheard them. Must have been right after that that they had been taken. Hopefully whoever had taken them hadn't overheard them saying where we were. I saw that all of our group was nodding at the woman. Though we didn't know her, it seemed like we could trust her. For now at least.

Hershel started to walk up to the woman who quickly recoiled at him. Rick put a hand on her shoulder and bent down to her level as Hershel approached her. "This is Hershel, the father of the dark haired girl who was taken. He'll take care of that," Rick told her. I noticed that Hershel gave the woman an assuring smile and she relaxed at his presence. That was just the way that Hershel was. He knew how to get people to trust him. Rain was like that too. It gave me some assurance that as soon as the woman's bullet wound was taken care of, we would start to develop a plan to get Rain, Glenn, and Maggie back. And as soon as I had her back in my arms, I'd find this Governor. And as soon as I find that son of a bitch, I'll kill him.

BACK IN WOODBURY

I looked at Merle with a proud smile on my face, glad that I'd managed to come up with a plan to hopefully get Glenn, Maggie, him, and myself out of here. And alive. Alive is the important part. I noticed that Merle was wearing an "Are you insane?" look and I rolled my eyes. I was about to defend my plan of action when Merle stepped in. "So you're gonna bargain yourself for Glenn and Maggie's freedom?" He asked me. I nodded my head, it really wasn't that difficult to understand. "Uh, a little advice girl. He already has you. Why would he make a trade for something he already has?" The older Dixon asked.

I rolled my eyes ready to explain myself once more. "No Merle. I already thought about that. I know he already has me, which is why I need your help here. When he comes back I'm going to propose that he lets go Maggie and Glenn, and if he does I'll tell him anything and everything he wants to know. Now naturally when they get back they'll tell Rick and everyone what's going on and they'll send out a search party for me. I just have to stall my father until then. And as for you, well you're his right hand man. I need you to tell him that you think the trade is a good idea and when the group comes, I'll make sure you get out with me. Back to Daryl. Anyways, I'll also need you to convince him that the best idea is for me to hug them and say goodbye in person. I'll need to give them a slight idea of what's going on. Tell him that you'll be standing right there, making sure nothing funny is going on," I told the older man. I waited for a response as I saw that Merle clearly wasn't very confident that this whole plan would work.

Merle seemed to sit there for a few moments before sighing and nodding at me. "So should I go get the Governor now? Tell him that you've had a change of heart. You have a deal for him?" He asked me. I nodded happily, glad that he was risking his own life just so that we could have a shot at getting the hell out of here. Merle nodded at me and stood up heading for the door. He walked out and I could just barely hear his voice and another speaking on the outside of the door. I figured that it was most likely my father. My thoughts were confirmed when Merle opened the door and my father walked back into the room. I couldn't help but smirk slightly at the bad limp he was using.

My father pulled the chair up in front of me and took a seat, crossing his legs. I glared at him, knowing that he must have believed that he was winning here. We'll see asshole. The tables have turned and this is my game now. "So Rain," my father started. I looked him in the eyes and nodded at him. "I hear that you have a deal for me," he said slowly. I nodded, waiting to see what his next move would be. "Good, good. So let me hear this grand plan of yours," he told me with a small smile on his face.

I took a few deep breaths, praying that he wouldn't know that this entire thing was just a way for all of us to make it out of here. I focused on keeping a straight face when I nodded at him and took one last deep breath. "You let Glenn and Maggie go. You let them go and you can keep me. I won't try to escape, I swear. And once I know that they're safe and away from here I'll tell you everything and anything you want to know about my group or myself," I told him.

I saw the gears grinding in his head and I smiled to myself. He was taking the bait and that was exactly what I had wanted. He seemed to think my offer over for a few moments before he nodded to me. "Alright, we let your little friends go and you tell me everything I need to know. And no funny business." I shook my head hoping that I looked sincere. Apparently it worked as he went to stand up and leave the room. I had been about to let him leave as I remembered a vital part of my plan.

I jumped up and ran to meet up with him. "Wait!" I yelled to him as I met up at his side. "Let me say goodbye to them. Let me sat goodbye at the gate. And I want to watch to make sure that no one is following them and you won't hurt them with their backs to you all," I told him. He smiled at me and nodded once more. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room, and around the many twists and turns of the building that I was in. My father finally pulled me out into the open and I was shocked to see that it was already nightfall. We must have been here for about five hours now.

My father stopped short and I jolted. Glancing up at him, he handed me off to another man who seemed to be Spanish and in his mid thirties. I glared at him and pulled slightly away, but he already had a cast iron grip on me. I glared and watched as my father called for Glenn and Maggie. He seemed to be telling Merle my plan as Merle turned back to me and gave me a look that asked if I really knew what I was doing. I nodded to him and watched as my father ordered the older Dixon to go get Glenn and Maggie. I stood in the open street for a few moments before Merle once more emerged with my two other group members. I smiled at them and the Spanish man allowed me to walk away from him. I went up to Glenn first and gave him a hug. I leaned into his ear and whispered, "It's a trick I'm pulling on them. Find Rick. Get a group. Come back for me," I told him. He gave me two pats on the back and I knew that he had understood me. As he walked back, I smiled at him and hoped that I looked like I would sincerely miss him. "Good luck," I called to him so that the actual Woodbury residents could hear me. Maggie came up next and before she could say anything I whispered to her as well. "Glenn will explain," I told the brunette woman. She patted me on the back as well and I gave her a small smile as she pulled away.

I was pulled to the top of the wall as my two group members were let out onto the street. They were given their weapons back as well but naturally they were empty. I watched from the top of the wall as Glenn and Maggie retreated into the woods, praying to whatever spirit was watching out for me, that they would be able to make it back to the prison. I was ripped off the wall by my father as the pair fled from my view. I glared at the man, but at least he had kept to his word. Now I had to distract him until the search party came for me.

ONE MILE OUT FROM WOODBURY

We had been running as fast as we could away from the cabin owned by man who seemed to not fully grasp what was going on. It was too bad that we had to kill him, but at least it would keep us safe for now. We had just come up on a clearing in the wood and we were now on top of the town that was holding Rain, thanks to the woman that had seen them get taken. I heard cracking footsteps up ahead and I raised my crossbow. Obviously the others had heard as well when they all raised their weapons. I nearly shot an arrow at the two figures that emerged from the wood, but something stopped me. And I was glad it did as the figures turned out to be Glenn and Maggie. I dropped my crossbow, thrilled that we had gotten two of them, but my heart immediately sank. Where was Rain? "Oh my God. You guys, how the hell did you get here? We were just leaving to come get you. To get you back here to rescue Rain," Glenn told us.

So Rain was still in there? Then how the hell had the two of them gotten out? "So she's still there? We got here because of her," I told the pair, pointing back to the woman. "She saw you guys get taken and she brought the formula back to the prison. Told us where you guys were and we got together a search party to go and rescue you. How did you escape?" I asked them.

Maggie stepped forward this time and looked over all of us. "Rain made up some lie apparently. She told the man that runs the place, the Governor that she would tell him everything about us if he let us go. She was hoping that if she did that, he would let us go and she could stall until we got there to rescue her. But she walked into a trap! I had to tell him about us. He would have killed Glenn had I not. I'm so sorry, I held out as long as I could," Maggie told us. I could hear the sigh in her voice and I knew that she was ashamed of herself for telling the Governor about us. But hell, I couldn't blame her, I would have done the same thing if it were Rain in Glenn's spot.

Rick seemed to spot the fault in all of our theories though. "Wait. So if this Governor character knew what was going on, why would he let Maggie and Glenn go? Why not keep them and tell her no?" Rick asked. I sat there in a stunned silence for a moment. He was right. The Governor had all the information that he needed, why let them go and have her tell him as well? He had to have some other reason behind keeping her there with them.

I stepped forward and nudged Rick in the arm, "Rick, we need to get going. We have no idea what's happening to Rain in there while we're all standing out here debating on it." Rick nodded and motioned to everyone to continue walking, with the foreign woman in front. We were blindly following her, so she had better be of some use. I sighed as we came to a stop in front of the fence, fidgeting madly knowing that Rain could be only a few yards from me, but I had no idea. Hang on Rain, I'm coming.

BACK IN WOODBURY

I had been thrown back into the room that I had started in while my father merely smirked at me. I felt the need to tell him what a fatal mistake he had made, but it would only hinder me. Instead I tried to keep a straight face and just pray that Rick and Daryl were quick in getting here. I was running out of options. "I have other business to attend to for a while. I'll return shortly. In the meantime, you'll have Martinez to keep you company," he told me with a smirk. I nodded but felt a lump in my throat form. Why hadn't he sent Merle in to come and talk to me? I hoped to God that he wasn't getting suspicious of everything. My father turned from the room and opened the door, walking out, and letting Martinez in. I growled as I noticed that it was the Spanish man from earlier. I had a terrible feeling about this.

"Well, well sweetheart. Made a deal with the devil huh?" He asked me. I scoffed and looked away from him. At this point, the only two people here that I was willing to talk to were my father and Merle. Not some cocky asshole that thought he was tough shit. "That's fine doll, I've got more important shit to deal with than you anyways. Governor actually sent me to get you and bring you to a new hideaway," Martinez told me with a smirk. I gave him a sidelong look but he ignored it. What the hell was that about? Martinez slipped a blindfold over my eyes and I growled at the feeling. I felt him pull me up from the chair that I had been seated in and out the room. I knew that I was being pulled down the hallways, and judging by the change of air temperature, I was now outside. For a while, we walked straight before we took a turn, and I knew that we were inside once more. "Alright girly. Mind the stairs," he told me. I had been about to make a snarky comeback when my feet hit the first step and I fell. Martinez laughed and pulled me up, walking me slowly up the stairs. I was pretty sure that I was on the third floor when we finally left the staircase and walked down a hall. I heard the lock of a door click and gulped when I felt him guide me through. I was ready to fight back when a last door was opened and I was thrown down onto the bed. I tore off my blindfold, ready to fight, but I was shocked to find that I was alone.

I blinked a few times to clear out my vision, but the room was dark and it was hard to see. After a few minutes, the room finally came into view and I looked around. It only took me about a minute to realize where I had been thrown. A replica of my old room. Well not really a replica, but there were plenty of similarities. A similar sheet set. A few of the same board games. An old Nintendo D.S. An old, small TV in the corner. The same small twin sized bed. The same movie posters. The same books. The same pictures. I walked around my old room and ran my hands over the pictures. The first few were memories of when I was a little kid. A trip to Disney, a day at the park, first day of school, and a day at the gun and bow range. I smiled at the photos and went down the line. The next was of the day that Penny was born. I couldn't help but sigh, knowing that my baby sister was now dead. The last of the photos was only Penny and my father. I rolled my eyes but picked up the photo anyways. I looked at it and noticed that they both actually looked extremely happy. Feeling a sudden surge of anger, I threw the photo across the room and stared at the shattered glass. With nothing left to do, I walked over to the bed and collapsed. I was so exhausted from the day that the moment my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

I must have only been out for a few minutes when a loud bang woke me up. I jumped at the loud noise and flung myself over to the window. I looked out over the street and saw that there wasn't an invasion, but clearly there was some type of disturbance. Running towards the door, I went to kick it down before I realized that it had already been open. God damn it, I should have checked the door first. I flung the door open and was shocked to see that the apartment was empty. Looking both ways, I saw that the front door was only across the main room. Letting out a whoop of happiness I ran across, only to be cut off by voices outside of the door. Gasping, I turned back and walked across the room. I looked around, panicking as to what I could do, I noticed that there was a small crack in the wall. Pushing at it slightly, the wall opened and I stumbled in.

Nothing could have prepared me for what was in the room. Looking over to my left was a huge wall of fish tanks. But it wasn't fish that were in them. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming at the sight. It was about 30 walker heads in the tanks and they were all still alive. Sort of. I backed off from the wall trying to find another exit to the room when my eyes caught sight of life sized cages in the back of the room. Walking over to them, I saw that inside one was a person that didn't quite look full grown. From the looks of it, it was a child. I called lightly to the person, who looked over at me and stood up, walking to the cage doors. I gasped as I saw that it was a little girl with a bag over her head and her hands tied behind her back, with a chained collar keeping her at bay. "Penny..." I whispered in disbelief. Upon recognition of my younger sister, I opened the cage door and let Penny walk out to me. It sounded like she was crying and I couldn't blame her, I was tearing up too. "It's OK Penny, I'm gonna get you out of here and you're coming home with me." There was no way that I was leaving this girl here, she was coming back to the prison with me. I couldn't believe that my father had lied to me about her being dead. It seemed that I wasn't the only child that he had turned on. Putting my hand on the top of the bag that covered her face I thought about her for a second. Why she hadn't spoken to me yet. Well she probably is afraid of me. The poor girl has no idea who I am, or that I'm her sister. Hell, if he didn't have any pictures of us up, she might have grown up thinking she was an only child. After all, the last time I'd seen Penny she had only been a few months old. Grabbing the top of the bag, I ripped it off and let out a small shriek. Penny lunged at me, and I was glad that she was restrained this time.

I felt the tears once more rise to my face as I realized that my father hadn't lied to me. Penny really was dead, he had just never finished her off. I didn't want to do it but I knew that I had to. I couldn't leave Penny like this. Grabbing my knife, I looked at my younger sister who was thrashing around now that fresh meat was right in her sight line. "I'm so sorry Penny. If you're out there somewhere, then listen. I love you, and I know that I've never said that. But I could never come back, not with him at home. My name is Rain and I'm your sister. I'm sorry I was too late, but I hope that this will make us even. You should be able to rest in peace, not roam the Earth in an empty shell. I'll end it," I whispered the last part. I brought my knife up to Penny's head, but a click of the door made me stop. Fearing that it was my father coming for me, I shoved the bag sloppily onto Penny's head avoiding her teeth and pushed her back into the cage. Yanking myself up and off of the floor I ran behind the tanks just in time for the door to slide open and a very pretty black woman with dreads walked in. I watched her carefully as she pulled a katana off of her back and sat down in the huge brown armchair off to the side. I knew that my only chance was to carefully slip by her, and somehow I did. Crawling out of the door, I slipped silently through the apartment before making it back into the stair well. Letting a smile slip across my face, I knew that I was almost free.

I dashed down the stairs and noticed that outside, it was chaos. Residents of Woodbury were running back and forth, pulling residents into their homes, arming themselves, and shouting orders to one another. It looked like there had been some sort of invasion, and if I was lucky it hadn't been from the walkers. I hoped that if I walked out, people would be so enamored with each other that they might not recognize me. With no other choice, that was what I was going to have to do. I walked out of the apartment and made it a few feet down the street before a man walked up to me. I felt my heart rate speed up but I kept my face calm. "Hey! You! Why the hell are you walking around here without a gun?!" The man asked me. I tried to answer him but it came out as only a stupid stutter. "Ugh, whatever it doesn't matter. Look, there's another group out there and we've gotta defend this place. Shoot-to-kill orders. Here," he said, handing me a small Glock 9mm. I thanked him and watched as he moved off from me and towards the crowd. I felt my heart deflate as I watched the man move away from me. We were terribly outnumbered and these people had heavier artillery, as far as I knew at least.

Walking away from the spot that the man had caught me at, I hissed as I saw that Martinez was walking around just a few yards from me. I took off around the corner and slowed myself down to a brisk walk, trying not to raise suspicion. I had almost made it to an unmanned gate when I smiled. I had made it, now I just had to find my group and get the hell out of here. I put my foot on the first chain link when strong arms pulled me down from the gate. I let out a shriek and kicked out at the man who had his hands around my waist. He growled at me though and threw me onto the ground. I grunted in pain and cracked my eyes open to see who my attacker was. I groaned when I saw that it was Martinez who was now towering over me. "Well here we are again darling! You should have just stayed in the house," he growled at me as he picked me up and dragged me out of the alleyway. I tried to fight against him, but it was no use, I was in too much pain from the fall. I reached for my gun, but Martinez had already seen it. He pulled to gun from my waist band and laughed at me as he secured it in his belt.

As we walked out of the hallway I heard that there were gunshots echoing in the distance. Daryl. It was my group, I knew it was. I kicked and punched at Martinez but he wasn't loosening his grip. He pulled me past the cell type areas once more and walked me into my old cell. Martinez growled at me and threw me onto the metal table that sat in the middle of the room. I groaned at the sudden sharp pain through my side and tried to roll off of the metal table. Martinez was faster than me though as he pushed my body back into the table. "Gov said that you were all mine for a while. Think he just wanted me to rough you up a bit, scare you, but I think this will do better." The older man growled and pulled his belt buckle to loosen the strap. I jumped up and felt my breath quicken. Not again, no way. I was tougher this time and there was no way that I would ever let a man treat me like that again.

I struggled against Martinez as he grabbed for my belt. I was unfortunately not strong enough to fight him off, the man most likely had about 80 pounds on me, and he continuously shoved my hands away from him. I cried out in pain as his hands tore into my lower thighs, I could feel the skin being torn clean off my body at his force. He moved his hands up my thighs and pulled at the bottom of my shorts. For once I was thrilled that my shorts were made of a faux leather, it made the shorts ten times harder to pull off of me. He did however, get sick of trying to pull the shorts off. My eyes widened as a Martinez pulled out a knife and held it to my thigh. I shrieked and punched him hard in the gut. He groaned at the pain but still brought the knife down onto my leg, the blade slid through the material of my shorts, as he cut one of the legs off of my pants. I screamed as the blade pierced my skin. Determined not to let him get any farther, I kicked out at him and after being hit a few times in the chest, he gave up. I laughed as I thought that I had gotten away, but I was wrong, Martinez instead went up to my chest and easily ripped my tank top. I screamed at him and lashed out with my arm. To my shock, my nails had caught his cheek and left three huge claw marks down the side of his face. Blood immediately started to run down his cheek and I heaved as the pressure was released when he jumped off of me.

I sighed at the relief that he wasn't going to finish me off when a hard hit came on the side of my face. I felt my vision blur for a few moments and I finally saw that Martinez was standing over me with blood dripping down his body. I whimpered as hit after hit came down onto me. "You stupid bitch! Just had to fucking fight me, make it difficult!" He was screaming at me. I cried out in pain when he pulled me up by my hair and dragged me out of the room. He was leading me down a hallway by the scruff of my neck and I was just barely standing. We turned a few corners when we ran into my father. I looked up at him and knew that my eyes had widened drastically. He had a bandage over his left eye. What the hell had happened to him?

I noticed that there was dried blood on his patch and I prayed that Martinez would ask what had happened. I shivered as a cold breeze hit me and I tried to pull my shirt back up, but it was useless. My shirt was torn apart, hanging limply around my waist. My father glared at me and smiled. "Well dear, isn't this a familiar sight?" He asked me. I tried to kick out at him, but I was too weak. My father held my arm and pulled me away from the Spanish man. "I have someone else for you to take care of. Go find Adam, he'll tell you what's going on." I stared at my father as he dragged me outside. "Come on dear, we're going to watch a show," he told me. I growled at him, but I couldn't fight anymore.

He brought me outside and I was in utter shock at all of the people standing around, cheering. My father pushed me into a small circle and pulled me to the edge before throwing me down. I grunted at the pain, but sat there in the dirt. My father came back over after that and pulled my hair, getting me to rise onto my knees. I wanted to cover up, to cry, but I stayed strong. The women in the crowd were screaming at me and the men were whistling. I hadn't been this embarrassed in a long time. I looked up and saw that Merle was watching me in complete horror. I tried to move towards him, but my father ripped my hair back.

After a few minutes of the screaming he hushed the crowd and turned to look at them all. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's time I properly introduce you all to my daughter here. Rain Blake! Now, Rain and I have never seen eye to eye. But recently it's gotten worse. I mean, what can I say? Hasn't been a night like this since the walls were completed. And I thought we were past it- past the days when we all sat, huddled, scared in front of the TV during the early days of the outbreak. The fear we all felt then, we felt it again tonight. I failed you. I promised to keep you safe. Hell, look at me." I looked up at him and saw that he was motioning to his eye. I felt my heart rate pick up, I mean hell, I felt like I was at my execution. "You know, I- I should tell you that we'll be okay, that we're safe, that tomorrow we'll bury our dead and endure, but I- I won't, because I can't. Because I'm afraid. That's right. I'm afraid of terrorists who want what we have," he said. I glared at him knowing that this was going nowhere good. "Bad enough that my daughter is one of these terrorists!" He yelled, throwing me onto the ground. I grunted but pulled myself up to look at him. "Want to destroy us! And worse because one of those terrorists is one of our own. Merle the man I counted on, the man I trusted. He led 'em here. And he let 'em in. It was you. You lied, betrayed us all," my father said as his men led Merle into the center of the circle. I felt my heart drop, Merle was a traitor to them, but I had led them here, not him. What was about to happen to him was my fault.

I tried to jump at my father but he pushed me back down "Dad stop! This isn't right! Merle didn't do anything!" I screamed at him. My father looked down at me and laughed, motioning something off to his men. I sat and watched as the men led in a person that seemed to be bound and gagged. I tried to make out the person, but as he was walking past, Martinez kicked me in the head, badly blurring my vision.

My father moved over to the man who had just been brought in, and my vision slowly started to return to normal. I watched as the man was led next to Merle. "This is one of the terrorists," my father started. I felt my chest drop, it was one of my own. "Merle's own brother," my father yelled before ripping the bag off of his head. Oh my God. Daryl. I stared in shock as Daryl stared at his brother. The pair were looking at each other as if they'd never seen each other before. I tried to pull myself up, but I was too weak right now. "What should we do with them, huh?" My father yelled to his followers. I let my heart skip a few beats as I tried to catch their attention.

The crowd started shouting at the Dixon brothers as I moved slightly over to try and grab the two. "Kill them!" The crowd was shouting. I felt myself begin to panic and I knew that in a few minutes it would be too late. I needed to get to them.

"What? What you want?" My father continued to yell to the crowd.

"Kill them! Kill them!" They all continued to scream. I finally managed to stumble forward slightly on my knees closer to the brothers. I was within a few feet but I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it all the way over to them.

Sheking my head, I tried to call to them a few times, but it wasn't working. I wasn't loud enough. I sucked in a huge breath, and hoped that this time I would be able to yell over the crowd. "Daryl!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The younger Dixon brother finally turned around and I let out a relieved laugh. His eyes locked on mine and I saw the shock, fury, and love in his eyes. He stared at me for a few moments before trying to move over to me. I knew that he wanted to be close to me, but I shook my head no. He couldn't show signs of affection right now. I needed him to stay away from me for a few minutes.

As Daryl and I were looking at each other, I saw that my father was walking up to Merle. He came up to the older Dixon's shoulder before leaning over. "You wanted your brother. Now you got him," my father told him before walking back to the edge of the circle. I felt my heart drop as I looked around. We were surrounded and there was sure as hell no way out of this. We were dead. I had just gotten Daryl back, and now we were dead.

A/N: Well here comes another chapter! Sorry this one took a while but school has been keeping me super busy lately. Anyways, I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day and I hope you enjoy the chapter. So obviously Rain and her father are gonna have quite a few issues coming up. No surprise there. But anyways, there was a question I wanted to ask. I actually really liked Merle, and I was unhappy when they killed him off. So here's my question for you guys: Would you like me to have Merle live through his encounter with The Governor? If I get enough responses I'll probably have him live. But it's up to you guys. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it, sorry there wasn't much Daryl in it. As always, thank you for the follows and favorites from **mysticaloricalmandi123, EternallyMade, vic2k, JackSparrowsWench92 (love the username), 7darkangel7, Ecorley, gagesmith450, namierin, writingNOOB, **and . Thank you also for the reviews from **mysticaloricalmandi123, twilightgirl1690, Guest, **and a HUGE thank you to **lynnvickers725** for the review. It made my day! Please review guys! I really do love them, they're a great confidence booster and they help my writing! Until next time -A


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